Date Posted: 4/16/2008

MACON, Ga. - ETSU will serve as the host of the Atlantic Sun Tennis Championship for the second consecutive year beginning Friday, April 18 on the campuses of ETSU and Milligan College. The No.1 seed Buccaneers will look to become the first A-Sun school to successfully defend its title since UCF won three-straight from 2003-2005, while the top-seeded JU women's squad tries to repeat as well, a feat last accomplished when UCF won four straight titles from 1997-2000.

The ETSU men's squad, nationally ranked all season long, achieved a school-record ranking of 33 earlier this season. The Buccaneers enter the 2008 tournament ranked 37th nationally. ETSU senior Enrique Olivares is the only competitor in this year’s tournament currently ranked nationally, entering this week's competition as the No. 71 player in the country. Fellow senior Lisandro Picardo has also been ranked this season, as the Bucs placed two players in the national rankings simultaneously for the first time in school history. Also sporting a national ranking as the tournament begins are the No. 2 seed Stetson Hatters who come in ranked 56th in the nation. The Hatters have been ranked for the majority of the season, entering the poll at No. 75 back on February 26, and were ranked as high as 53rd at times this season. No team on the women’s side holds a national ranking, but ETSU sophomore Yevgeniya Stupak is currently ranked 96th in the country after being slotted as high as 79th earlier this season.

With the top-seeded men completing a third straight unblemished conference season, and entering the championship as a heavy favorite to repeat as A-Sun champion, the second-seed on the women’s side, the Lady Bucs, will aim for their second conference title in three years. Should ETSU, or another A-Sun school, claim titles in both brackets, it would mark the first time since Florida International in 1994 that one school sweeps both men’s and women’s championships.

Though the Buccaneers are the favorites in this year’s tournament, the A-Sun Tennis Championships have not been kind to its host institutions over the years. Just six host schools have hoisted the championship trophy in conference history, and just one in the last 17 years. That one? ETSU in 2007. The trend is even bleaker on the women's side, as just once in the 22-year history of the women's championship has a host claimed the championship; Stetson back in 1989.

USC Upstate's women's squad stormed through the conference schedule in its first season as an A-Sun member, rolling up a perfect 11-0 mark to earn the regular season championship. The Spartans are not among this week’s competitors however, as they are also in their first season as a Division I institution, and are ineligible for postseason play. USC Upstate is designated a reclassifying school until the 2011-12 competition year, and will be eligible for tournament action at that time.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Related Links:
 • Men's Championship Page
 • Women's Championship Page