It was a busy weekend for ETSU tennis as the women traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to face Virginia Commonwealth University on Saturday, and the men stayed home to compete against Elon on Sunday.
Women’s tennis left the weekend with a record that dropped 5-8 after falling to the VCU Rams 4-3.
The Bucs started off with the double duo freshman Raquel Amaro (Caracas, Venezuela) and red-shirt junior Yi Chi Ma (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) winning their match 6-0 at the No. 2 spot. This was the duo’s sixth win of the season.
Freshman Laylo Bahodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and sophomore Alejandra Morales (Santiago, Chile) gave the Bucs the second and final win in the doubles match, winning 6-2 against the Rams.
The Bucs gained a 2-0 advantage after a successful first set of 6-2 from Morales at the No. 2 spot in singles play. During the middle of Morales’s second set 2-2, an injury to her opponent cut the match short.
Amaro gained her tenth win of the season after defeating her opponent in single’s 7-5, 6-1 putting the Bucs ahead 3-1, but the Rams would tie the score at three with a win at the No. 5 spot. Junior Andrea Pacual-Larrinaga (Basauri, Spain) held her own at the No. 3 spot but was defeated in the end at 6-2, 2-6, 7-6.
For the men, they returned home to play Elon and win 5-2 making their overall record 10-4.
“We played great matches against a ranked university,” said Frazier Rengifo (Cali, Columbia). “It was a great effort, and I am so proud of them.”
Rengifo and Yusuf Khamis (Cairo, Egypt) started the Bucs in the doubles match with a 6-1 victory in the No. 2 spot. Soon after the Bucs advanced at the No. 3 spot with senior Sergi Fontcuberta (Barcelona, Spain) and senior David Gonzalez (Barcelona, Spain) winning 6-2.
After a loss in the singles round in the No. 3 spot, the Bucs came back to reclaim their lead with a 6-1, 6-3 victory from junior Miguel Este (Caracas, Venezuela).
Rengifo would go on to best his opponent in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, and later Khamis would bring the victory home to the Bucs with a straight set, 7-6 (8-4), 6-1.
Women’s tennis will kick off their conference start on Thursday against Wofford in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Men’s tennis will return home on Friday, welcoming conference foe Furman and then Samford on Sunday.
