The ETSU women’s tennis team returned to campus late on Sunday afternoon after enjoying two victories on the road.
Saturday Feb. 5, the Lady Bucs got an early start traveling to take on Liberty University. The team took part in a practice session once arriving at the courts, where they realized for this match patience would play a major factor. With uneven surfaces and little room to move between courts, the Bucs knew they needed to expect anything.
Ready to begin the doubles matches, a sudden nosebleed forced No. 6 Muriel Sherwood off the court, where she received assistance.
Jewel Aldea, who was not scheduled to play doubles, took Sherwood’s place at the No. 3 doubles slot. The team went on to win all three matches.
The Bucs suffered a major setback during the break between doubles and singles when it became apparent that Sherwood would not be returning to the court.
Having already made changes to the line-up, Coach Steve Brooks was forced to default the No. 6 singles, tying the match up at 1-1.
Determined to win at least three of the next five matches, the Bucs did not seem phased by their current situation, going on to sweep all five singles matches.
“I was extremely disappointed that I could not play,” Sherwood said. “I was ready to go onto the court when it happened, but I am glad the girls all played well and were able to have a good win.”
The Bucs left early Sunday for their next match against Virginia Tech. The team experienced an exciting win over this opponent last year, but returned this year with a very different team and a whole new line-up.
Prior to the match, Brooks explained to the team that each player needed to play well, while not going for too much or trying to play too well.
All three doubles matches started out closely, and the Bucs managed to gain leads on all courts. A momentum shift on court three, however, saw the Bucs drop their first match to the Hokies 9-7.
Court one finished almost simultaneously with the same score, this time in favor of the Bucs.Within minutes, the Bucs’ No. 2 doubles secured the doubles point with an 8-6 victory.
“We had three close doubles matches and have done well to get the doubles point. Now we just need three singles matches to win, but I want all six,” Brooks told his team during the 10 minute break. With a quick team gathering and a determined “Go Bucs!” the team went back out to face the Hokies in singles.
While captain Gemma Halim had a tough match and was unable to get over her opponent at No. 6, freshman Olya Batsula helped the Bucs with their lead putting them up 2-1 with a win at No. 5. Elena Volobueva won convincingly at No. 2, while Sylwia Ziolkowska lost narrowly at No. 3. With two matches still being battled and the Bucs up 3-2, they needed one more match to win.
The atmosphere became extremely loud as players cheered on their teams, and Brooks and assistant coach Margie Katras interchanged between the last two matches.
Masha Ilina had narrowly lost the second set to No. 83-ranked Anat Elazari of Virginia Tech.
She was at 3-3 in the third set when the Bucs’ Sandie Knight secured the victory at the No.4 position.
Virginia Tech won their third match when Elazari closed out the third set against Ilina.
The women’s next match is February 25 at Elon, and they do not return home until March 30.

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