ETSU’s women’s tennis team remains undefeated after a victory over UNC-Wilmington.
The team won all four singles matches. Members Lyn Yee Choo (Kuching, Malaysia) and Marina Espana (Castellar Del Valles, Spain) both had victories, which brought their records to 7-0 for the season.
The win for Ana Gerbasi (Caracas, Venezuela) improved her record to 5-2, while Ioanna Markesini now has a record of 6-0, with one unfinished match.
The three matches in the doubles competition ended in two losses for ETSU, while one remained unfinished.
This marks the eighth-straight win for the team. Along with UNC Wilmington, the team has been victorious over USC Upstate, Appalachian State, Morehead State, Tusculum, Emory, UT-Martin and Middle Tennessee State so far this season.
“Obviously we’re pretty confident at the moment,” said coach Travis Sandlant. “We know Wilmington is a very strong team. They beat us 4-3 last year in the spring, so we know we will have to step up in form against them and be ready for a battle, but we’re ready to take the challenge on.”
Team Captain, Lyn Yee Choo, echoed Sandlant’s thoughts on the confidence of the team and is focusing on the overall picture when it comes to her goals for the season.
“I’m not focusing on winning streaks,” Choo said. “I just want the whole team to win.”
The team has many reasons to feel confident. Along with this being their first 8-0 start in the history of the program, they were also recently ranked for the first time since 2010 in the Oracle/ITA DI Women’s Team Rankings. The team is currently ranked 73rd nationally.
Although the team is proud to have received the ranking, Sandlant said, “It’s not our number one goal. We have high goals, winning conference and heading back to the NCAA, so that’s our main focus. All other awards just come off of performing well.”
Currently, it looks like the team is headed toward a conference championship. However, they do have some tough opponents coming up.
“You can’t take anyone lightly,” Sandlant said.
The last time the Bucs played Elon, who they faced on Sunday, they narrowly won. Their next opponent, Akron, is having a very strong season with a record of 8-1.
Winthrop, who they will face soon, currently has a record of 3-1, and the Bucs lost to them last spring.
Sandlant is very confident in the ability of the team and said they owe it all to the hard work and dedication they have put into excelling at the game.
“If we want to keep up this winning tradition and take it to the next level, the only way we are going to get there is continuing hard work,” Sandlant said. “Every match that is coming up is going to be important for us this year to see where we’re at.”
