Wednesday, June 29, 2011

MACON, Ga. – Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams from ETSU returned to Johnson City, Tenn. with the Atlantic Sun Championship Trophies in 2011, but several programs across the A-Sun showed improvement throughout the year and look to overthrow the Buccaneers in 2012.

After a 9-1 conference record, the Lady Bucs earned their second A-Sun Championship in the past three seasons by defeating Stetson, 4-1, in the semifinals and UNF, 4-0, in the championship match. By dropping only one point, ETSU had the most dominating championship performance since 2006 when the Lady Bucs failed to lose an individual match against three opponents. The championship victory was the program’s third in the last six years. The Lady Bucs travelled to North Carolina to square off with the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament, but dropped the match, 4-0.

The ETSU men’s team qualified for the A-Sun Championship as the two-seed after tying for the regular-season title with UNF at 9-1 in conference play. The Bucs downed Campbell, 4-0, and then Stetson, 4-2, in the finals to win their fifth-straight A-Sun Championship crown – the longest streak in conference history. In the NCAA Tournament, the Buccaneers nearly followed up their win against Alabama in the 2010 postseason, but fell to Notre Dame, 4-3, in Columbus, Ohio in the first round.

The Ospreys tennis programs both had great seasons with the women’s team following up their 2010 A-Sun Championship with a runner-up finish, while the men’s team posted their highest finish in the A-Sun Regular Season by tying ETSU for the regular-season crown. Stetson continued its run in 2011 as one of the top programs in the A-Sun. The Hatters men’s squad finished as the runner-up at the A-Sun Championship for the sixth-straight season – a conference record – while recording 20 wins in back-to-back seasons. On the women’s side, Stetson earned seven conference wins to extend its streak to five seasons with at least six A-Sun wins.

USC Upstate, the men’s 2010 regular-season champions, finished the year at 8-2 in conference play and ran its three-year A-Sun win total to 27, which tied ETSU for most over that span. Jacksonville’s women’s team returned to the A-Sun Championship in 2011 behind the play of Eve Castaing, the A-Sun Player of the Year, who went a perfect 10-0 in conference play at No. 1 Singles.

Kennesaw State saw great strides in both of its programs with the women’s team compiling 18 wins to go along with a 7-3 conference record – both program records – and the men’s squad earning nine regular-season victories, which is the most since the inception of the program in 2009.

FGCU’s women’s team accumulated nine wins over the course of the season, which tied last year’s mark for most since joining the A-Sun. Like the Eagles, Belmont’s women’s squad saw improvements to its win total as the Bruins earned their most A-Sun victories since 2008.

Mercer and Lipscomb both earned berths into A-Sun Men’s Championship after missing out in 2010. The Bears finished the regular season with five league wins – its most since 2006 – to earn them a five seed, while the Bisons’ six seed in the championship is the highest in program history after LU produced seven regular-season wins – the most since 2007.

Like Castaing, Campbell’s Davy Sum swept through his competition at No. 1 Singles to finish his senior season with a 20-0 record and the A-Sun Player of the Year title.

The tennis programs saw tremendous success in the classroom with six earning perfect 100 percent marks for Academic All-Conference honors. Both ETSU and FGCU placed every student-athlete on the all-academic team, while the Kennesaw State and Stetson men’s tennis programs earned 100 percent academic achievement.

From June 20-July 1, the A-Sun office will highlight each season of every conference sponsored sport:
June 20th: Women's Soccer
June 21st: Men's Soccer
June 22nd: Volleyball
June 23rd: Women's Basketball
June 24th: Men's Basketball
June 27th: Cross Country/Track & Field
June 28th: Golf

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