Women’s tennis suffered two back-to-back losses on the road as they faced the Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers in Cincinnati, Ohio, over the weekend. The Bucs now hold an overall record of 5-7.
“We’ve made a lot of strides this year, and this is just another test against two great teams,” said head coach Ricardo Rojas.
On Friday, the Bucs fell to Cincinnati 4-3 in their first match at the Easter Hills Indoor Tennis Club.
Red-shirt junior Yi Chi Ma (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) and freshman Raquel Amaro gave the Bucs a win in their doubles match 6-1, while freshman Yunuen Elizarraras (Cuernavaca, Mexico) and junior Andrea Pacual-Larrinaga won their match 6-3.
The Bucs gained the 2-0 advantage with help from Amaro in her 6-3, 6-4 singles win at the No. 4 spot, and Pasual-Larrinaga would go on to win her solo match at the No. 3 with a score of 6-2, 7-5.
After some successful performances from the Bucs, the Bearcats would eventually take the win after winning four out of the six singles matches and one of the doubles.
Saturday held the last day of matches for the Bucs and resulted in a close but losing outcome of another 4-3 score against Xavier.
Freshman Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) won 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in singles, along with Amaro in her match finishing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Bakhodirova and sophomore Alejandra Morales (Santiago, Chile) gave the Bucs a 6-4 win in doubles over the Musketeers. Elizarraras and Pasual-Larrinaga ended the Bucs events with a win of 6-2.
The Musketeers came out on top in the singles competition, winning four of the six matches like the Bearcats the day before, and only one of the three doubles.
“Our team is growing with every experience and I like where we are headed,” said Rojas.
Women’s tennis will be back in action on Saturday, March 16 to face VCU in Richmond, Virginia.
