Saturday, October 27, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Oct. 27, 2007) - The ETSU women's tennis team continued play on Saturday at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships hosted by the University of South Carolina. Sophomore Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and junior Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) each advanced to the semifinal rounds in their respective flights on Saturday.

Competing in the A-1 singles bracket Stupak blew by Link Leskosky of College of Charleston, 6-1, 6-1 before dropping Armstrong Atlantic's Johanna Dahlback, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. She will square off against No. 36 Gira Schofield of South Carolina.

In the B-1 singles draw Byrne breeze by Georgia Southern's Melanie Rolle, 6-2, 6-1 before defeating Megan McGavok of South Carolina 6-4, 6-4. She will take on Armstrong Atlantic's Gabriella Kovacs in semifinal action.

In the B-3 singles flight Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) defeated Marketa Komlosora of South Carolina State, 6-0, 6-2 before falling to Cayley Wetzig of Winthrop, 6-2, 6-1. She will face Georgia Southern's Ali Beavers in consolation play.

Newcomer Andra Voinea (Brasov, Romania) fell to Larisa Bekmetova of Winthrop, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 in the B-4 singles round of 16 before defeating Gabriela Blaskovicova of West Virginia in consolation play, 6-4, 6-3. She will continue play in consolation action on Sunday taking on Hayley Baird of Wofford.

Competing in the C-1 singles bracket Whitney Trotter (Guadalajara, Mexico) fell to Davidson's Meredith Skeeters, 6-2, 6-2 before defeating Sara Hickman of Francis Marion, 6-2, 6-1. She will face Georgia Southern's Shea Huxtable in consolation on Sunday.

In the C-2 flight Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) fell to Davidson's Ali Gores in a hard fought three-set match, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 before cruising by Lauren Smith of Benedict College, 6-1, 6-0 in consolation action. She will take on East Carolina's Kristin Gordon on Sunday.

In doubles action Stupak and Volobueva fell to No. 23 Gira Schofield and Ana Zubori of South Carolina, 8-2 in the semifinals of the A-1 doubles bracket. They will take on Coastal Carolina's Laurel Bolesky and Amy Pazahanick for third place.

Also competing for third place in the C-1 doubles flight Trotter and Voinea fell to Lora Dushanova and Samantha Galainena of Davidson, 8-3 in the semifinal round. They will face Mary Beth Gunn and Martie Wahl on Sunday.

"We had some ok play today but the two highlights were really Yevgeniya and Tara reaching the semifinals. Elena played well but then just got distracted in her second match and Andra and Vita had really  hard fought matches. Vita had a great match today and is starting to look like the Vita of old which is definitely a positive," said head coach Steve Brooks.

For all ETSU women's tennis action visit www.ETSUBucs.com.