Bucs to host seven home matches this spring

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 8, 2022) – ETSU head women’s tennis coach Ricardo Rojas officially announced the 2023 women’s tennis spring schedule on Thursday. The season begins on January 12-13, 2023 with an exciting trip outside the continental United States.

The schedule includes seven home matches, two of which will take place in Bristol, Tenn. There are 23 matches on this year’s regular season spring schedule.

OPENING IN PARADISE

ETSU women’s tennis gets underway with two matches in Honolulu, Hawaii on Jan. 12-13 against the Unviersity of Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific. The matches will be played at 2:30 p.m. local time that Thursday and 11 a.m. that Friday. The five-hour time difference makes it 7:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the Eastern Time zone.

WASTING NO TIME FACING THE POWER FIVES

After the Hawaii trip, ETSU will take on a trio of Power 5 opponents on the road. The swing begins at Kentucky on Jan. 20, continues at Ole Miss on Jan. 22 and ends at Virginia Tech on Jan. 29. The Bucs have become regular visitors at Kentucky and Virginia Tech, but will visit Ole Miss for a spring dual for the first time this millennium.

STARTING FEBRUARY IN NASHVILLE

The Bucs begin the second month of the year with a two-match trip to the Music City, facing Lipscomb on Feb. 3 and Belmont on Feb. 4.

BACK HOME IN BRISTOL

On Feb. 9, ETSU will play its first match in the Tri-Cities of the spring as it welcomes former conference foe and storied rival Appalachian State to town. Two days later, the Bucs will welcome another former SoCon rival, Davidson, to Bristol on Feb. 11.

LONG BREAK KICKS OFF WITH RAMS

One week after its home match in Bristol, ETSU will travel to Virginia Commonwealth University for a dual on Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. in Richmond. The VCU match will mark the last one of February, as the Bucs will have an extended break from action until March.

JOHNSON CITY LID-LIFTER

ETSU will play at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex on campus for the first time in 2023 with a home match against Radford on March 3.

FAMILIAR SITE AGAINST A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT

ETSU will make a second trip to Raleigh, N.C. this season as the Blue and Gold dual with national powerhouse NC State on March 5. This past fall, ETSU competed against some of the nation’s best at the 2022 College Ranked Spotlight hosted by NC State.

OTHER KEY NON-CONFERENCE ROAD TRIPS

Much like the trip to Hawaii, ETSU has another exciting two-match adventure scheduled for March 15-16 in Miami, Fla. against Florida International and Yale in neutral site action. The Bucs also have a late trip scheduled at Charlotte on March 31.

BATTLE OF THE STATE SECTIONS

ETSU’s final home non-conference match will be against in-state rival Middle Tennessee State on April 2 at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex.

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS MARCH 10 AT HOME

On March 10, ETSU will begin the Southern Conference portion of the schedule at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex against UNCG. ETSU will also host SoCon matches against Mercer (April 6) and Chattanooga (April 8) while making road trips to Wofford (March 24), Samford (March 26), Western Carolina (April 11) and defending-champion Furman to close the regular season (April 15).

SOCON TOURNAMENT

The 2023 Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament runs from April 20-22 in Chattanooga.

ABOUT THE BUCS

Last season, ETSU finished with a 17-9 record overall and a 6-1 record in Southern Conference play. ETSU made a run to the SoCon tournament finals, finishing runner-up to No. 36 ranked Furman. Last season produced a nationally-ranked win over No. 52 Charlotte.

Rojas, who is in his sixth season at the helm, brings a strong roster into the spring led by senior Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) who is ranked No. 106 in the ITA Preseason Ratings and the only SoCon player represented on the rankings.

She is joined by returning graduates Emilia Alfaro (Azul, Argentina) and Yunuen Elizarraras (Cuernavaca, Mexico), redshirt junior Maria Fernanda Carvajal (Queretaro, Mexico) and sophomore Daniela Rivera (Maturin, Venezuela) to make up five returners.

The five are joined by two transfers, who have already shined for ETSU this fall, in graduate Mariya Shumeika (Minsk, Belarus) and sophomore Ralitsa Alexandrova (Sofia, Bulgaria).

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