Rivera and Alexandrova win singles matches

MIAMI, Fla. (March 15, 2023) – ETSU women’s tennis faced another challenging opponent to ring in Spring Break, falling in a competitive 4-2 match against No. 36 Florida International University on Wednesday afternoon in South Beach.

The Bucs fell behind 3-0 after FIU won the doubles point and the first two singles points, but ETSU struck back with a pair of wins from Ralitsa Alexandrova (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Daniela Rivera (Maturin, Venezuela) in the No. 6 and No. 5 spots, respectively.

The top spot saw a competitive battle between ETSU’s longtime ace Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and FIU’s Yasmine Kabbak, but the match went unfinished in the third set after FIU clinched the fourth point with a three-set win at No. 3 singles.

Alexandrova was the only Buc to win in straight sets, taking No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Rivera won at No. 5 with an exciting 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Katerina Mandelikova. Before her match went unfinished, Bakhodirova dropped the first set, 1-6, but battled back for a 7-5 win in the second set. She trailed 4-3 in the final frame that went incomplete.

In doubles, ETSU had a competitive battle at No. 2 as Rivera and Maria Fernanda Carvajal (Queretaro, Mexico) led 4-2 before FIU clinched the doubles point. Carvajal was also competitive at No. 3 singles, taking Kamila Umarova to the wire in a 3-6, 6-2, 4-6 loss.

The No. 36 Panthers improve to 11-3 overall and 8-0 at home this season. FIU also continues a seven-match win streak with today’s win. Meanwhile, ETSU falls to a respectable 9-5 overall record.

The Bucs will wrap up their Spring Break trip to Miami tomorrow at 12 p.m. with a meeting against No. 72 Yale. Tomorrow’s match will mark the second meeting all-time between the two sides and the first since 2011. 

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