Despite dropping their 18th consecutive match, head coach Steve Brooks remains optimistic as his team heads into the Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament.
The Lady Bucs (1-20, 0-9) fell 7-0 to the Lady Mocs of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Saturday afternoon at the ETSU Tennis Center.
“We like our first round opponent in Appalachian State and we believe we match up with them pretty good,” Brooks said. “We’re in a good frame of mind going into the tournament and we know what we have to do to get past the first round.”
The Lady Bucs, however, will head into the tournament having been shut out in five of their last seven matches, including Saturday’s contest with the Lady Mocs.
In the No. 1 doubles match the Lady Bucs’ team of sophomore Jessica Irey and freshman Gemma Halim dropped a tough match, 8-4, to Chattanooga’s team of Catherine Allen and Cynthia Oulevay.
The Lady Mocs’ duo broke Halim’s serve for the first point of the match before the Lady Bucs’ team battled back as Irey and Halim held their next two serves to keep within one point at 3-2. The Chattanooga team, however, broke Irey’s next serve going on to win the match 8-4.
Chattanooga took the No. 2 doubles match as well as the Lady Mocs’ Bethany Everett and Saskia van Velze topped the Lady Bucs’ duo of sophomores Tatianna Arriaran and Aimee Villavicencio, 8-1.
In singles action, Irey fell in a tough match to the Lady Mocs’ Charlotte Goude.
Trailing 5-2 in the first set, Irey battled back, holding serve then breaking Goude’s serve to close the first set to 5-4. Goude, however, broke Irey’s next serve to win the set, 6-4.
Goude went on to win the match, taking the second set 6-1.
“We played pretty good, we had chances to win points, but we second guessed ourselves and got frustrated,” Brooks said. “It hasn’t been a frustrating season, at times they have gotten a little frustrated, but they have improved tremendously.”
In the No. 2 singles match, Oulevay defeated Halim 6-1 and 6-2 while the Lady Mocs’ Allen topped Arriaran at the No. 3 spot in the day’s longest match, 6-4 and 6-2.
In other singles action, Velze defeated Villavicencio in the No. 4 singles match, 6-1 and 6-1 and Chattanooga’s Stephanie Miles defeated sophomore Heather Jones 6-2 and 6-2.
Brooks is not looking past the Southern Conference tournament, which begins on Friday in Charleston, S.C., but he does look forward to next season, in which he expects the Lady Bucs to win much more often.
“We’re going to be winning next year,” he said. “Our players will all be a year older and more experienced and with the new players we’ll have, we’ll be winning next year.

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