Friday, April 15, 2011

DeLAND, Fla. – Top-seed and Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season champion ETSU (14-6) advanced to its sixth consecutive A-Sun Women’s Tennis Championship final with a 4-1 victory against fourth-seeded host Stetson (17-6) in the semifinals Friday morning at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Karina Kedzo and Marine Wieliczko scored wins in singles and doubles matches for the Lady Bucs.

Lindsey Cable and Shannon Gunning began the doubles portion with an 8-4 win for Stetson, besting Tara Sheets and Andra Voinea on Court 3, but ETSU took the next two matches to secure the doubles point. Kedzo and Paula Jaime defeated Carolina de los Santos and Unnati Purushotham 8-4 on Court 1 and the Wieliczko/Kelly Holtzhausen pair pulled off an 8-6 win against Stetson freshmen MayaBlue Stauffer-MacDowell and Sierra Sullivan.

ETSU got straight-set victories at positions 3, 4 and 5 to secure the victory. Wieliczko defeated Gunning 6-2, 6-1 on Court 3 to make it 2-0 with Diana Navrostska (7-5, 6-2 over Stauffer-MacDowell) quickly following on Court 5. Kedzo finished off Sullivan and the Hatters 6-2, 6-3 on Court 4.

The Lady Bucs have advanced for the A-Sun Championship title match every year they have been a member of the conference dating back to 2006; they will face the winner between second-seeded Campbell and third-seeded UNF at 10 a.m. Saturday for the championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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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.