Sophomore wins matches against two ranked teams

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (March 21, 2023) – For the first time in her career, ETSU sophomore Ralitsa Alexandrova (Sofia, Bulgaria) was named the Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, announced by the league office on Tuesday.

The transfer from Old Dominion anchored the lineup this week against two ranked opponents — No. 36 Florida International and No. 72 Yale. Alexandrova won both of her singles matches from the No. 6 spot, defeating Kristina Miletic from FIU by a 6-3, 6-2 final and later defeating Yale’s Rebecca Lynn by a 6-1, 6-1 score.

In doubles, she and teammate Emilia Alfaro (Azul, Argentina) turned in a dominant 6-1 victory over Yale’s Sophia Zaslow and Jamie Kim to propel ETSU to the doubles point win and a 5-2 victory for the team. Also, her singles win in the Yale match served as the match-clinching point for the Bucs.

The Bulgaria native has an 8-1 record in her last 10 matches — one of which went unfinished — including three straight singles wins. She has a 5-3 singles record in the No. 5 spot and a 3-1 record in the No. 6 spot for an 8-4 overall record.

Alexandrova is the second Buccaneer women’s tennis player to win the award this season, joining senior teammate Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) who has already won three this season and has six for her career — the most among active SoCon players.

Alexandrova and the Bucs return to conference play this weekend, hitting the road for a two-match swing against Wofford and Samford. The Wofford match is set for Friday, March 24 at 3 p.m. and the Samford match is set for Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m. 

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