Winning six out of its last seven matches, the ETSU women’s tennis team stayed on a roll Saturday besting two time defending Atlantic Sun Conference Jacksonville, 4-0 inside the Bristol Racquet Club in Bristol, Tenn.
With the win ETSU improves to a 9-5 overall record, 6-0 A-Sun, while the Dolphins fall to 8-8 and 4-3.
ETSU opened play taking the doubles point and the early 1-0 lead, sweeping all three pairs contests.
The Lady Bucs followed that up as senior Tara Byrne continued her solid play this weekend dropping JU’s Elvira Yusupova in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. The Tri-Cities native continued to inch closer to former ETSU great Masha Illina all-time wins record of 103 and now sits only five wins shy of that mark.
After Byrne gave the Lady Bucs a 2-0 lead, junior Yevgeniya Stupak made quick work of Tatiana Soldvatova in No. 1 singles play, dropping the JU junior in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. With the Lady Bucs then needing only one more win to clinch its first win against the Dolphins in two seasons, freshman Paula Jaime closed out the scoring with a three-set victory over Juliana Umeki 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.
With the victory now in hand, other ETSU scores on the day were senior Vita Moskalivoa, who was up on Iva Jaresova, winning the first set 6-1, while sophomore Tara Sheets was leading her No. 5 singles contest against Virigina Iwinski, 6-0, after the first frame.
“I’m very proud of the girls today,” said head coach Steve Brooks. “It was good to get the win and stay atop the conference standings. Our girls are learning to stay mentally tough, which is going to give us a big advantage as we head into our final three conference matches and the A-Sun tournament.”
The Lady Bucs will now return to action Monday as ETSU travels to face league foe Mercer at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center in Mercer, Ga.

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