Wednesday, October 01, 2008

PACFIC PALISADES, Calif. (October 1, 2008) - After receiving the honor of an at-large bid by the National Tournament Committee, ETSU women's tennis junior Yevgeniya Stupak's (Kyiv, Ukraine), run at the ITA Women's All-American Tournament came to an end Monday night, as the No. 63rd ranked Stupak dropped both her opening round matches.

The six day event, which is being held at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., features 64 of the top women's singles players in the nation.

In her first round contest Stupak faced Kristi Boxx of the University of Mississippi. Early in the match Stupak looked impressive, however a late first-set rally by Boxx gave the freshman a 7-6 win. In the second set Boxx was able to maintain her momentum defeating Stupak 7-5, for the match.

"Boxx is a good player," said head coach Steve Brooks. "She actually won both her matches today and also won the pre-qualifying tournament this past weekend. Yevgeniya was up 5-2 in both sets, but she just hasn't played in enough matches this season to get the experience and confidence to close it out."

In the consolation bracket Stupak drew Taylor Ormond of Baylor, who dropped her first round match to Georgia Tech's Christy Striplin. As in her opening round match Stupak started strong rallying to win the opening set, however the No. 34th ranked Ormond stormed back to take the second set and third sets for the match.

"It was kind of a disappointing finish for Yevgeniya," said Brooks. "The lack of playing this fall again influenced the finish. She needs to continue to work her way back into shape and that will help her regain some confidence as she continues to play over the next couple of contest."

For results and more information as women's tennis season contiunes, please visit  www.ETSUBUCS.com or www.itatennis.com.