It was a historical weekend as the ETSU men’s and women’s tennis teams captured first place in the Southern Conference Tournament.
The women started their tournament on April 22, when they swept Mercer, 4-0, in the quarterfinals.
The first point of the match came from wins from the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in doubles. The wins continued to roll in as the No. 4-6 spots all dominated in singles play, closing the match for the Bucs.
After their performance in the quarterfinals, they were off to take on their state rival, Chattanooga, in the semifinals on Saturday.
Like a repeat of Friday’s game, the enemy stood no chance. The Bucs swept Chattanooga, 4-0, with two wins in doubles competition to give them their first point and three wins coming from singles play.
Their last opponent in the tournament was No.-4 seed Samford on Sunday. A lot was on the line as the winner would receive the title and the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
When Sunday was all said and done, history was made as the Bucs swept their final opponent and won their first ever Southern Conference Tournament Championship.
The team got their first point in doubles play, and seniors Lyn Yee Choo (Kuching, Malaysia) and Ana Gerbasi (Caracas, Venezuela) finished it off with wins out of the No. 1 and No. 6 positions. Ioanna Markesini (Athens, Greece) also won in singles play.
The women ended the tournament with a 20-2 record overall and will find out who they will compete against in the NCAA Tournament on May 3 during the NCAA Tournament selection show on NCAA.com.
The men’s team’s performance mirrored the women’s as they flew by every round of the Southern Conference Championship Tournament, with 4-0 victories against The Citadel, Wofford and Furman.
The only difference is that unlike the women’s team celebrating their first win in the SoCon tourney, the men’s team is celebrating their 10th. This is the team’s 10th-consecutive conference championship win and its 10th time advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player at the end of the tournament. Ribeiro ended the season with a record of 16-5 and 3-0 in the SoCon Tournament.
Selections for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on May 3 at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
