Bakhodirova, Carvajal make quarterfinal appearances

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 24, 2022) – The ETSU women’s tennis program finished up its run in the ITA Division I Women’s Ohio Valley Regional this weekend in Knoxville, celebrating 14 wins and a pair of quarterfinal runs in singles and doubles.

Senior Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) had two quarterfinal appearances this weekend, advancing in both the singles and doubles main draws with two wins in each. Bakohdirova, the No. 106 player in the ITA fall rankings, was joined by Maria Fernanda Carvajal (Queretaro, Mexico) in doubles, as the pair knocked off a duo from Murray State and a fifth-seeded pair from Vanderbilt.

In singles, Bakhodirova was the seventh-seeded player and defeated Natalie Boesing of Butler (6-0, 6-0) and Lidia Gonzalez from Kentucky (6-1, 6-3) before falling to Tennessee’s Daria Kuczer in the quarterfinals. Kuczer went on to Monday’s championship final.

Yunuen Elizarraras (Cuernavaca, Mexico) started the event for ETSU last Wednesday, taking down Sarah Lounsbury from IUPUI (6-0, 6-0) and Emma Honore from Murray State (5-7, 7-5, 7-6) in her first two matches. She also won on Friday in an extra match against Amy Kaplan of Ball State, clipping her 7-5, 7-5.

Elizarraras later teamed up with graduate transfer Mariya Shumeika (Minsk, Belarus) in doubles and won a first round match against Dayton’s Natalie Osiecki and Neena Katauskas, 8-5. Shumeika went on to win both of her B Flight Singles matches, giving up just one point over four sets with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Ashtin Hara of Tennessee and a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Libbie Hamilton.

ETSU’s other doubles team was graduate Emilia Alfaro (Azul, Argentina) and sophomore Daniela Rivera (Maturin, Venezuela). The pair picked up a win on Friday afternoon, defeating Abby Nugent and Abigail Siminski from Xavier, 8-5.

Rivera also won on Saturday in singles against Xavier’s Paulina Franco (6-4, 6-0). Joining her with Saturday single wins in consolation matches were Carvajal and graduate transfer Ralitsa Alexandrova (Sofia, Bulgaria). Carvajal defeated Ball State’s Jessica Braun (6-3, 6-3), while Alexandrova won against Micah Pierce of Memphis (6-1, 6-1).

The fall season concludes for the Bucs this weekend, as they travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the Roberta Allison Fall Invitational on Oct. 28-29 hosted by Alabama.

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