Friday, April 18, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The 2008 Atlantic Sun Women’s Tennis Championship kicked off Friday morning with the defending champion and top-seed Jacksonville Dolphins facing off with eighth-seeded Lipscomb.

#1 Jacksonville 5, #8 Lipscomb 0

Top-seeded Jacksonville opened its title defense with a 5-0 handling of the eighth-seeded Lady Bisons. The Dolphins’ doubles teams of Lena Willi/Fernanda Carrero and Lina Xu/Juliana Umeki secured the doubles point with victories of 8-4 and 8-1, respectively.

Xu led the way from her No. 1 singles position as well, notching a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Willi, Tatian Soldatova and Carrero tallied the final three Dolphin points, each posting 6-0, 6-0 victories at Nos. 2, 3 and 6 singles.

#2 ETSU 4, #7 Mercer 0

The second-seeded Lady Bucs took their first step toward their second Atlantic Sun title in the last three seasons Friday afternoon with a 4-0 victory over the No. 7 Mercer Bears. The teams of Yevgeniya Stupak/Olya Batsula and Tara Byrne/Vita Moskaliova won the doubles point for ETSU with 8-1 and 8-4 victories at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, respectively.

An injury to Stupak prevented her participation in her customary top-singles position, but Batsula and Byrne moved up to Nos. 1 and 2 and notched straight set victories to put the Lady Bucs on the verge of victory. Freshman Tara Sheets closed out the match with her 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 5.

#3 Stetson 4, #6 Gardner-Webb 0

The No. 3 Stetson Hatters made it three straight 4-0 victories for the higher seeds, as they dispatched sixth-seeded Gardner-Webb. Breanna Atkinson/Katherine Nowicki and Anna Leonenko/ Natalie Gorham secured the doubles point for the Hatters with victories of 8-1 and 8-4.

No. 1 Valentina Galbarini and Atkinson posted 6-1, 6-1 victories in singles action, and Nowicki’s 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles consolidated the Hatter triumph.

#4 Campbell, #5 Belmont 0

The fourth-seeded Camels made it a clean sweep for the higher seeds on the women’s side of the bracket with the day’s fourth consecutive shutout. The teams of Scarlett Alfonzo/Blanca Saenz and Ana Surviladze/Nina Surviladze quickly staked Campbell to a 1-0 lead with 8-1 and 8-3 victories at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.

The Surviladzze sisters and Cristina Garcia combined for three straight set singles victories at Nos. 4-6, and secured the victory for the Camels.