Saturday, March 01, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 1, 2008) - The ETSU women's tennis team raced past the Mercer Bears on Saturday, 7-0 to win their second consecutive match. The Lady Bucs improve to 5-5 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while Mercer falls to 5-5, 0-2.

The Lady Bucs jumped out to an early lead as they claimed the doubles point, sweeping all three matches. In the No. 1 position the 56-th ranked duo of Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) blanked Kelly Blount and Priscilla Dias, 8-0 while Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Andra Voinea (Brasov, Romania) dropped Karen Bellman and Amalia Bugge in the third position, 8-2. Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) and Whitney Trotter (Guadalajara, Mexico) cruised past Irys Citko and Cali Sachs, 8-1 in the No. 2 slot to complete the sweep.

In singles action, No. 89 Yevgeniya Stupak breezed by Irys Citko, 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 1 slot, while Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) defeated Amalia Bugge, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 6 slot. Competing in No. 3 singles, Olya Batsula clinched the match as she cruised past Cali Sachs, 6-1, 6-2. Andra Voinea dropped Karen Bellman, 6-0, 6-1 in the fourth position while Elena Volobueva defeated Kelly Blount, 6-4, 7-5 in the No. 5 slot. Tara Byrne completed the sweep in the second position as she defeated Priscilla Dias, 7-5, 6-2.

The Lady Bucs will hit the road as they take on Florida Atlantic on March 5. The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. For all Lady Bucs tennis action visit www.ETSUBucs.com.

ETSU 7, MER 0

Singles

No. 1- #89 Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) def. Irys Citko (MER) 6-1, 6-0

No. 2- Tara Byrne (ETSU) def. Priscilla Dias (MER) 7-5, 6-2

No. 3- Olya Batsula (ETSU) def. Cali Sachs (MER) 6-1, 6-2

No. 4- Andra Voinea (ETSU) def. Karen Bellman (MER) 6-0, 6-1

No. 5- Elena Volobueva (ETSU) def. Kelly Blount (MER) 6-4, 7-5

No. 6- Vita Moskaliova (ETSU) def. Amalia Bugge (MER) 6-2, 6-1

            Order of finish: 1, 6, 3*, 4, 5, 2

Doubles

No. 1- #56 Stupak/Batsula (ETSU) def. Blount/Dias (MER) 8-0

No. 2- Volobueva/Trotter (ETSU) def. Citko/Sachs (MER) 8-1

No. 3- Byrne/Voinea (ETSU) def. Bellman/Bugge (MER) 8-2

            Order of finish: 1, 3*, 2