Wednesday, April 13, 2011

MACON, Ga. – ETSU enters the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Tennis Championship in search of their third tournament title in the past six seasons. The Lady Bucs earned their third-straight A-Sun Regular Season crown with a 9-1 record and are the top seed. The 2010 Tournament Champions, UNF defeated the Lady Bucs last season for the top honors and begin play on Thursday as the No. 3 seed.

The Ospreys square off with River City rival Jacksonville at 11:30 a.m. in the day’s second quarterfinal match at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center on the campus of Stetson University. First Team All-Conference members Aline Berkenbrock and Danielle Day led the Ospreys to a 4-3 victory against JU on April 9th to clinch the third-seed and need a repeat performance in order to advance to the semifinals against Campbell.

Jacksonville and 2011 A-Sun Player of the Year Eve Castaing look to return to prominence after missing last season’s conference championship. With a 10-0 conference record at No. 1 singles, Castaing led the Dolphins to a 6-4 A-Sun record and hopes to give JU their third tournament title in the past five seasons with the last coming in 2008.

Campbell earned the two-seed in the A-Sun Championship with a 8-2 conference mark and feature the Freshman of the Year, Karolina Chernaya, as well as fellow A-Sun First Team Member Lisa Sutton. Chernaya’s 10-0 league record at No. 2 singles gave her the all-conference nod, while Sutton’s 8-2 No. 1 singles record earned her second-straight first team honor.

The Lady Bucs face the winner of the Stetson/Kennesaw State, which leads off the tournament on Thursday at 9 a.m. Stetson, the three-time A-Sun Champions, have finished as the runner-up in three of the past six tournaments, and rely on the shoulders of First Team A-Sun All-Conference members, Carolina de los Santos and Unnati Purushotham.

Kennesaw State, who made its A-Sun Championship debut in 2010, looks to advance to its first A-Sun Championship Semifinals with a rematch with the Hatters, who defeated the Owls, 5-2, on March 12th. Vera Shkundina, a first team honoree, and the rest of the Owls hopes to pull the upset of the hosting Hatters for a showdown with the Lady Bucs.

With a 9-1 A-Sun record, ETSU enters the conference championship on a seven-match winning streak and a nine-match conference winning streak with the lone blemish coming at the hands of UNF on March 4th. Second Team All-Conference members, Kelly Holtzhausen and Karina Kedzo lead the Lady Bucs for their third tournament crown.

Live viewing of courts 1, 2 and 3 can be seen throughout the championship on Hatter Vision.

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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 five 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.