ETSU women’s tennis wrapped up their third straight Power 5 matchup on Sunday in a close 4-2 loss against an undefeated Virginia Tech Hokies squad.
The Bucs (2-3) started the spring season 2-0 following wins at Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific before a three-game stretch where they have since faced a (4-2) Kentucky, (3-0) Ole Miss and (3-0) Virginia Tech.
In the matchup, the Bucs were led by Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and both of her wins in singles and doubles competition.
Bakhodirova was joined by teammate Mariya Shumeika (Minsk, Belarus) and faced-off against VT’s lead pair of Daryia Radulova and Ozlem Uslu. The No. 1 ETSU pair would walk away with a 6-4 win in the matchup.
The Bucs No. 2 pair of Daniela Rivera (Maturin, Venezuela) and Maria Fernanda Carvajal (Queretaro, Mexico) would also claim a 6-2 victory in their matchup against VT’s Erika Cheng and Sabina Richtrova.
The Bucs were in a good position until a pair of singles points gave the Hokies a lead in the match.
Bakhodirova would capture the No. 1 singles victory when she faced Radulova, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. The senior moves to 3-2 in No. 1 singles for the season. Off of her performance the senior was named Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, for the second time in three weeks.
This is Bakhodirova’s fifth time earning the honors.
The Bucs, at the tail end of a seven-game season-opening stretch on the road, will head to Nashville to wrap up the long road trip at Lipscomb and Belmont.
The Bucs will first face-off against a (3-2) Lipscomb squad that is fresh off a loss at Murray State on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. followed up by their match against the (2-1) Belmont Bisons on Feb. 4 at 5 p.m.
For more information on ETSU women’s tennis, visit ETSUBucs,com/wtennis.
