Friday, April 14, 2006

MACON, Ga. - The no. 1 East Tennessee State women's tennis squad defeated no. 4 Mercer, 6-0, in semifinal action at the Atlantic Sun Championships. The Lady Bucs' inaugural A-Sun season will be capped with a trip to tomorrow's championship.

The Bucs (22-4) dominated the Bears (8-12) at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center. ETSU claimed the doubles' point with a pair of victories from Olya Batsula/Tara Byrne (no. 2) and Sandie Knight/Elena Volobueva (no. 3).

Knight and Byrne also registered singles' victories on the day. At number one singles, Masha Ilina took down Teresina Pazsoldan 6-2, 6-2. Sylwia Ziolkowska (no. 5) and Vita Moskallova (no. 6) rounded out the singles' winners for the Lady Bucs.

ETSU will take on the winner of no. 2 Stetson and no. 3 Campbell in Saturday's final. The match is slated for 2 p.m.

Doubles
No. 1 Ziolkowska/Ilina (ETSU) vs. Kerley/Auvergne (Mercer) DNF
No. 2 Batsula/Byrne (ETSU) def. Pazsoldan/Blount (Mercer) 8-3
No. 3 Volobueva/Knight (ETSU) def. Citko/Sachs (Mercer) 8-2

Singles
No. 1 Masha Ilina (ETSU) def. Teresina Pazsoldan (Mercer) 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Olya Batsula (ETSU) vs. Patricia Assumpcao (Mercer) DNF
No. 3 Sandie Knight (ETSU) def. Lauriane Auvergne (Mercer) 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 Tara Byrne (ETSU) def. Rachael Kerley (Mercer) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) def. Kelly Blount (Mercer) 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 Vita Moskallova (ETSU) def. Karen Bellman (Mercer) 6-2, 6-1

Release courtesy of Mercer Athletic Communications

Post-Match Audio

ETSU Head Coach Steve Brooks

General statement

on taking on Campbell or Stetson in final

ETSU freshman Tara Byrne

on team's performance

Mercer Head Coach Nick Stutsman

on team's performance

on departing seniors