April 15, 2006

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's tennis team closed out its 2006 regular season schedule in record-breaking fashion as the Lady Pirates set a new program standard for dual match victories with a 4-3 non-conference triumph over South Carolina State Saturday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.

ECU improved its mark to 18-8, surpassing the previous single-season win total of 17 set a year ago. The Lady Bulldogs dropped only its second match of the season, falling to 13-2.

The Lady Pirates quickly built a lead and clinched the doubles point when the top-seeded tandem of Gillie Bailey and Kirstin Buchanan posted an 8-4 victory over Mirian Cruz and Marcela Rodezno. Luiza Borges and Mireia Gol opened pairs play with an 8-3 win over Milana Borisev and Gisel Brito to take a 1-0 advantage.

In singles play, the two teams split six matches with East Carolina picking up victories at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 flights. Gol cruised past Vensa Popac (6-3, 6-2), Borges defeated Borisev (7-5, 6-1) and Buchanan dispatched Brito (6-4, 6-1) to account for the Lady Pirates' tallies.

The Lady Bulldogs used triumphs by Cruz over Anca Dumitri (6-0, 6-3) No. 1, Rodezno over Bailey (6-4, 6-0) at No. 2 and Yana Lytkina over Presley Thomas (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) at No. 6 to capture the other three matches.

The Lady Pirates will now begin preparation efforts for the four-day Conference USA Championships which will begin Thursday, April 20 in Dallas, Texas.

EAST CAROLINA 4, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Mirian Cruz (SCSU) def. Anca Dumitru (ECU); 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 - Marcela Rodezno (SCSU) def. Gillie Bailey (ECU); 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 - Mireia Gol (ECU) def. Vensa Popac (SCSU); 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 - Luiza Borges (ECU) def. Milana Borisev (SCSU); 7-5, 6-1
No. 5 - Kirstin Buchanan (ECU) def. Gisel Brito (SCSU); 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 - Yana Lytkina (SCSU) def. Presley Thomas (ECU); 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Bailey/Buchanan (ECU) def. Cruz/Rodezno (SCSU); 8-4
No. 2 - Borges/Gol (ECU) def. Borisev/Brito (SCSU); 8-3
No. 3 - Panton/Popac (SCSU) def. Dumitru/Thomas (ECU); 9-7
Team Records: South Carolina State (13-2), East Carolina (18-8)