Friday, April 06, 2012

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 6, 2012) – The ETSU women’s tennis team continued its home success with a, 7-0, shutout of Mercer on Saturday at the Buddy Hartsell Tennis Center.

The win extends ETSU’s (9-7, 6-1 A-Sun) home winning streak to 24-consecutive matches dating back to 2009, and is also the Bucs’ fourth sweep in a row and fifth-consecutive win overall. Senior Paula Jaime (Madrid, Spain) highlighted the day by taking over sole possession of fifth place in all-time singles victories with her 87th career win in a, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3), defeat of Mercer’s (2-10, 0-6 A-Sun) Lucie Payrat. The win also moves the Madrid native’s team-leading season record to 22-9, 10-6 dual.

“The team played well, and it was a good to see Paula [Jaime] move up for most wins at ETSU,” assistant coach Travis Sandlant said. “Tomorrow will be a good challenge for us, and we need to be ready for a long, tough match against Kennesaw State.”

ETSU got the day started with its fifth straight doubles sweep.

Jaime and fellow senior Marine Wieliczko (Rouen, France) took care of business at No. 1 doubles, defeating Payrat and Jennifer Lada, 8-6. The other two doubles matches featured the No. 2, senior pairing of Karina Kedzo (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) and Diana Navrostska (Lviv, Ukraine), as well as the No. 3, underclassmen pairing of sophomore Giulia Andreazza (Balneario Camboriu, Brazil) and freshman Jessica Brumit (Elizabethton, Tenn.). Both duos won in convincing fashion, with Kedzo and Navrostska cleaning up Amanda Bertani and Melanie Schumilas, 8-0, while Andreazza and Brumit blew by Sarah Hannah and Katherine Cooper, 8-1.

Aside from Jaime’s three set match, the other five singles points were all decided in straight sets.

Andreazza moved her singles record to 13-12 by defeating Lada, 6-3, 6-4, while ETSU combined to drop just two games through the No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles matches combined. Wieliczko took out Bertani, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 3 and Navrostska defeated Hannah, 6-0, 6-1, in the No. 5 match. Kedzo and freshman Kelsey Williams (Sunbury, Australia) each won their third-consecutive matches with, 6-0, 6-0, decisions against Schumilas and Cooper, respectively.

The Bucs hit the courts again on Saturday when they look for their 25th home win in a row as Kennesaw State visits the Buddy Hartsell Tennis Center.

For more information on ETSU tennis, please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the tennis links.