ATHENS, Ga. (October 17, 2005) ? Gabriel Duch and Neyssa Etienne defeated two top five doubles teams in route to the ITA Southern Regional Championships hosted by the University of Georgia.

Duch and Etienne (No. 2 seed in the tournament and No. 7 in the preseason ITA polls) breezed through the first three rounds of the tournament defeating Tarryn Rudman and Kacie Anson of Georgia Tech, 8-6, then moving on to defeat Darya Ivanov and Evgenia Subbotina of Georgia, 8-2, after receiving a first round bye.

In the semifinals, the Bulls faced the No. 5 team in the country comprised of Kristi Miller and Lyndsay Shosho of Georgia Tech, defeating GT's top team, 9-8 (7).

In the final round, Duch and Etienne faced their toughest opponents to date, Caroline Basu and Shadisha Robinson of Georgia. Ranked No. 1 in the ITA polls, the team from Georgia went 25-3 last season, including an impressive 9-3 record against ranked opponents.

The two top-ranked teams started the contest by alternating points until the match was knotted up at 5-5. That's when Duch and Etienne pulled away winning the next three points to win the match, and the title, 8-5.

“They really stepped up and played like champions this weekend,” said head coach Agustin Moreno. “Not only did they play against the No. 1 team in the country, they also played against a very loud crowd that was pulling for Georgia all the way. It was a great win in the hardest regional in the country.”

With their win, Duch and Etienne earned an automatic bid to the ITA/ National Indoor Championships next month on the campus of Ohio State. The elite event, slated for Nov. 3-6, is the second collegiate grand slam event of the season. Winners and finalists from the various ITA Regional Championships around the country, plus at-large selections will make up the singles field of 32 and the 16-team doubles draw.