CULLOWHEE, N.C. (April 7, 2021) – The ETSU Women’s Tennis team remained undefeated in Southern Conference action on Wednesday afternoon as they took down the Western Carolina Catamounts on the road in Cullowhee.

All three doubles matches were separated by two games. Beginning at the No. 3 bout, Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga and Maria Carvajal put the Bucs within one match of earning the doubles point. After WCU’s duo took the top doubles match by the same score of 6-4, it was up to No. 2 to win the point. The Buccaneer pair of Emilia Alfaro and Laylo Bakhodirova rose to the challenge, giving ETSU the doubles point with a 6-4 victory.

Beginning at the bottom of the lineup, Yunuen Elizarraras won her ninth straight match to double ETSU’s lead with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph. Coming off of her first career SoCon Player of the Week honor, Pascual Larrinaga continue the Bucs’ success at No. 3 with the same score as Elizarraras. Carvajal clinched the match with ETSU’s third 6-1, 6-0 win, this one coming at the fifth singles position.

Alfaro (6-0, 6-2) at the four and Bakhodirova (6-4, 7-6) at the top spot closed out the five straight set singles victories for the Blue and Gold. The number two singles bout was the closest of them all. After Alejandra Morales dropped the first set 5-7, she came back to win the second 6-2 before dominating the super tiebreak 10-1.

The Bucs are now 30-1 against Western Carolina and have won 16 straight over the Catamounts.

The Bucs improve to 12-8 this season and 6-0 in SoCon action. Western Carolina drops to 7-6 overall and 0-3 in league play.   

Singles results

1. Laylo Bakhodirova (ETSU) def. Foldeak (WCU) 6-4, 7-6 (2)
2. Alejandra Morales (ETSU) def. Uljanov (WCU) 5-7, 6-2, 10-1
3. A Pascual-Larrinaga (ETSU) def. Smith (WCU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Emilia Alfaro (ETSU) def. Habib (WCU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Maria Carvajal (ETSU) def. Benavides (WCU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Yunuen Elizarraras (ETSU) def. Deehr (WCU) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles results

1. Smith/Pezzuco (WCU) def. Mayya Gorbunova/Alejandra Morales (ETSU) 6-4
2. Laylo Bakhodirova/Emilia Alfaro (ETSU) def. Uljanov/Foldeak (WCU) 6-4
3. Maria Carvajal/A Pascual-Larrinaga (ETSU) def. Elliot/Bonavides (WCU) 6-4 

Match Notes:
WCU Women's Tennis 7-6, 0-3 SoCon
ETSU 12-8, 6-0 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,5,4,2,1 )

For more information on Buccaneer women’s tennis visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s tennis page.