March 16, 2007

ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Gisel Brito and Vesna Popac's 8-5 victory over Luiza Borges and Mireia Gol in a No. 2 doubles match earned the Bulldogs' opening point and eventually proved to be the difference as South Carolina State edged East Carolina 4-3 in non-conference women's tennis action Thursday afternoon.

The Lady Pirates, who saw their three-match winning streak snapped with the setback, dropped to 11-6 on the year while the Bulldogs improved to 14-4.

After SCSU's Mirian Cruz and Marcela Rodezno opened doubles play with an 8-0 win over Anca Dumitru and Brooke Walter at the No. 1 slot, East Carolina evened the ledger when Hannah Priest and Varinia Soler defeated Iveta Blodniece and Yana Lytkina 8-3 at No. 3. Brito and Popac followed with the triumph to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 team lead.

In singles play, the Lady Pirates picked up victories at the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 positions as Walter outlasted Popac (6-3, 6-7, 6-4), Soler disposed of Blodniece (6-0, 3-6, 6-3) and Priest cruised past Lytkina (6-0, 6-3).

The Bulldogs used wins by Cruz over Dumitru (7-5, 6-2) at No. 1, Rodezno over Borges (6-1, 6-2) at No. 2 and Brito over Gol (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) at No. 3 to capture the other three matches.

The Lady Pirates will be back in action Saturday when it hosts Barton and Mount Olive in a doubleheader at the ECU Tennis Complex beginning at 3:00 p.m.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 4, EAST CAROLINA 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Mirian Cruz (SCSU) def. Anca Dumitru (ECU); 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 - Marcela Rodezno (SCSU) def. Luiza Borges (ECU); 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 - Gisel Brito (SCSU) def. Mireia Gol (ECU); 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 - Brooke Walter (ECU) def. Vesna Popac (SCSU); 6-3, 6-7, 6-4
No. 5 - Varinia Soler (ECU) def. Iveta Blodniece (SCSU); 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 - Hannah Priest (ECU) def. Yana Lytkina (SCSU); 6-0, 6-3
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Cruz/Rodezno (SCSU) def. Dumitru/Walter (ECU); 8-0
No. 2 - Brito/Popac (SCSU) def. Borges/Gol (ECU); 8-5
No. 3 - Priest/Soler (ECU) def. Blodniece/Lytkina (SCSU); 8-3
Team Records: East Carolina 11-6, South Carolina State 14-4