Thursday, April 15, 2010

DeLAND, FL – The third-seeded Stetson women’s tennis team (18-6) tied the program’s all-time single-season wins record with a 4-0 triumph over sixth-seeded Mercer (7-10) in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships Thursday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Senior Breanna Atkinson (Bradenton, Fla.) and A-Sun Freshman of the Year Carolina de los Santos (Montevideo, Uruguay) each won 8-1 doubles matches and 6-1, 6-0 singles decisions.

De los Santos and senior Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay), the nation’s 60th-ranked doubles duo, rolled to an 8-1 win over Jennifer Lada and Amalia Bugge at #1 singles; the Hatters soon clinched the doubles point when Atkinson and senior Katherine Nowicki (Jacksonville, Fla.) took down Stephanie Cohen and Sarah Hanna by the same score at the #3 slot.

The Hatters then pulled off three consecutive straight-set singles wins to punch their ticket to the semifinals for the sixth year in a row. Atkinson beat Bugge 6-1, 6-0 on Court 3, de los Santos did the same to Lada on Court 1 and junior Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) finished it off with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Priscilla Dias on Court 4. Purushotham has won 14 consecutive singles decisions.

Stetson, which reached the 18-win mark for the first time since 1986 (the program’s first season at the NCAA Division I level) advances to Friday’s semifinals, where it will meet second-seeded and 64th-ranked UNF at 2 p.m. Top-seeded and 70th-ranked ETSU takes on either fourth-seeded Campbell or fifth-seeded Kennesaw State in the second semifinal at 4:30 p.m.

Fans can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates on conference news, weekly awards, and from A-Sun championships. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by visiting facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.