ETSU women’s tennis opened their season strong with back-to-back wins against the University of Hawaii against Hawaii Pacific University Jan. 12-13.
The Buccaneers’ first win came from doubles team senior Maria Fernanda Carvajal (Queretaro, Mexico) and sophomore Daniela Rivera (Maturin, Venezuela) as they defeated Hawaii’s Alexis Merrill and Rita Pinto 6-0.
Doubles team senior Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and graduate student Mariya Shumeika (Minsk, Belarus) also took a win 6-3 against Nikola Homolkova and Klara Novakoa.
“You try to find the right chemistry with partners; you try to see what style suits best. It is still a work in progress. We had a good weekend, and we have some new pairings who are trying to get used to each other,” said head coach Ricardo Rojas.
The singles matches against the University of Hawaii resulted in wins from graduate student Yunuen Elizarraras (Cuernavaca, Mexico) 6-0, 6-4 against Merrill; Carvajal defeating Novakova 7-5, 6-3; Shumeika defeating Homolkova 6-4, 7-6 (9-7); and Bakhodirova defeating Ana Vilcek 6-4, 6-3.
The Buccaneers defeated the Rainbow Warriors 5-2.
Similarly to the first match, doubles team Bakhodirova and Shumeika defeated Mihoki Miyahara and Elodie Busson 6-3 while Carvajal and Rivera defeated Shaline Pipa and Rikona Murakami 6-4, securing the points for the doubles rounds.
As for singles, Bakhodirova defeated Pipa 6-2, 6-3 followed by Elizarraras defeating Nicole Ballach 6-3, 6-0. Hawaii Pacific claimed a win against the second flight. The final two singles players secured wins after three set rounds. Carvajal defeated Abigail Wild 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 while Rivera defeated Miyahara 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 resulting in a second 5-2 win for the weekend against Hawaii Pacific University.
Both Bakhodirova and Carvajal had stellar weekends, winning all of their matches. In addition, Bakhodirova was awarded the SoCon Player of the Week, making this the fourth time receiving this award in her career.
“This is my senior year, so it’s my last season. I am looking forward competing as hard as possible, making memories and building chemistry with my team,” said Bakhodirova. “There is also the conference tournament we are looking to win and making it to regionals and nationals.”
This is the first time since 2016 that the team has started off the season 2-0.
“It’s always good to start with the right foot. It was a long trip to Hawaii, but the team played well; they were ready. I think it sets the tone for what is coming this weekend and the rest of the season,” said head coach Ricardo Rojas.
The team will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 20, then head to Oxford, Mississippi for a match against Ole Miss on Sunday, Jan. 22.
