Date Posted: 4/9/2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - During a tight match filled with emotion, the USC Upstate women's tennis team couldn't rely on two better players than their senior leaders in Diana Martinez (Medellin, Colombia/Nuestra del Senora) and Maria Herrera (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Both came through with tough three-set wins, as Upstate clinched a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title with a 5-2 win over ETSU on Wednesday afternoon at the ETSU Tennis Courts.

The win ensures a piece of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season crown for the Spartans, who are 16-3 overall and 10-0 in the A-Sun and is both the first women's tennis regular season league title in the school's history and the first Atlantic Sun Conference team championship in school history. The Spartans are in their first year as a member of the conference after spending the past 17 years in the Peach Belt Conference, one of the toughest tennis conferences in NCAA Division II.

Now Upstate (16-3 overall, 10-0 A-Sun) will get a chance to claim the Atlantic Sun title outright on Thursday when Campbell visits the USC Upstate Tennis Complex for a 2:30 p.m. match. The Camels enter the contest with a 14-6 overall record and a 5-4 conference mark.

The Spartans' toughness showed in many instances on Wednesday afternoon. In doubles, junior Anna Novo (Caracas, Venezuela/El-Angel) and freshman Emilia Milovanovic (Paris, France/CNED) took a 3-0 lead against Yevgeniya Stupek and Olya Batsula before the ETSU duo came back to tie the match. However, the pair swung momentum back in their favor to take an 8-5 win at the No. 1 slot.

After a loss at No. 2 doubles, the Spartans' No. 3 duo of Martinez and Herrera came from behind to win in a tiebreaker. Down 5-4, the duo scored the next three points against Elena Volobveva and Whitney Trotter to win the match, 9-8 (5) and get the Spartans the point.

In singles play, junior Daniela Lovera (Caracas, Venezuela/Santa Rosa Lima) posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over Andra Voinea at No. 4 singles to open up a 2-0 lead, but minutes later the match was tied as the Bucs took matches at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

Novo followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles against Stupak, to give Upstate a 3-2 margin. She came back in the first set from a 2-0 deficit to win six of the next eight games to take control of the match, her school-record 28th singles win of the season.

After the two-set matches were finished, the teams grouped around the remaining two courts, with Martinez playing at the No. 5 slot and Herrera at the No. 6 slot.

Martinez came back from a one-set deficit and fought through two match points to finally seal the win in the third set against Volobueva for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles. Herrera finished moments later, taking a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win against Vita Moskahova at No. 6 singles.

Related Links:
 • Full Article ay UpstateSpartans.com