ETSU women’s tennis jumps to 14-6, 4-0 record

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 6, 2023) – ETSU women’s tennis kept both its conference winning streak and home match winning streak alive on Thursday with a comfortable 6-1 win over Mercer on Thursday morning at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex.

Not only did ETSU improve to 6-0 at home and 4-0 in Southern Conference play with today’s win, but the Bucs also kept their perfect all-time record against Mercer to now lead the all-time series 21-0 since 2006. ETSU improves to 14-6 overall, while Mercer falls to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in league play.

Starting the morning with doubles, ETSU had a 6-2 win out of the gate on Court 2 by the tandem of Maria Fernanda Carvajal (Queretaro, Mexico) and Daniela Rivera (Maturin, Venezuela). The duo improves to an impressive 12-4 record with four straight wins.

Mercer won No. 1 doubles to keep the point alive, leaving to the players on Court 3 to decide the first tally. After a long and exciting rally, Yunuen Elizarraras (Cuernavaca, Mexico) and Emilia Alfaro (Azul, Argentina) finished a 6-3 victory to take momentum into singles.

Rivera would be the first to finish on Court 5, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Marina Quinones to make it 2-0. Coming in well-rested, Ralitsa Alexandrova (Sofia, Bulgaria) won her match at No. 6 singles over Lekha Varudandi by a 6-2, 6-1 final.

ETSU officially clinched the match in the No. 3 spot with a 6-2, 6-3 win by Carvajal, then tacked on another point with a 6-2, 6-2 win by Alfaro at No. 4 singles. The last two matches — both in the top two flights — went three sets. Mary Courville edged Mariya Shumeika (Minsk, Belarus) for Mercer’s lone point, while senior ace Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) pulled out a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win to end the day.

Alexandrova and Rivera are both riding seven-match win streaks, while Bakhodirova has won five in a row.

On Saturday, ETSU will play its final home match of the season with the Bucs set to face in-state rival Chattanooga at 1 p.m. In between doubles and singles, the ETSU program will celebrate its four graduating players with a special ceremony — Laylo Bakhodirova, Mariya Shumeika, Emilia Alfaro and Yunuen Elizarraras. 

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

🚨 BUCS WIN 🚨

ETSU improves to 4-0 in @SoConSports matches and has three more remaining in the regular season!

We're back on Saturday for SENIOR DAY scheduled for 1 p.m. #ETSUTough pic.twitter.com/HIQRWtitEX

— ETSU Women's Tennis (@ETSU_WTennis) April 6, 2023