JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 13, 2024) – The No. 64 ETSU women's tennis team not only sent out its senior class out with a win in their final home match but it also clinched the first Southern Conference Regular Season Championship in program history in a 4-3 victory over Furman on Saturday. The regular season concludes for the Bucs with an overall record of 14-7 and a SoCon record of 7-0.
 
For the 14^th time in 21 matches this season, ETSU started a match by winning the doubles point. The two victories came from the tandems of Fernanda Carvajal/Daniela Rivera and Sofia Markova/Alessandra Caceres by scores of 6-1 and 6-2, respectively. Both of those teams finished the regular season undefeated in SoCon matches (7-0).
 
As the match progressed to singles, ETSU continued to add to its lead. Caceres made the score 2-0 Bucs with a 7-5, 6-0 win before Carvajal added another point to ETSU's advantage with 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) triumph in the No. 2 singles spot.
 
Facing a potential shutout, the Paladins battled back in the late going to tie the match at 3-3. The match and the SoCon Regular Season Championship came down to the No. 1 singles match between Sofia Markova and Sara Snyder. The two players split the first two frames and the third moved to tiebreakers. Snyder jumped out to early lead but Markova recovered and won 8-6 and clinched the win for ETSU.
 
This SoCon Regular Season Championship is ETSU's fifth outright regular season title in program history with the other four coming when it was a member of the Atlantic Sun.  
 
Singles Competition
1. Sofia Markova (ETSU) def. Sara Snyder (FUR) 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)
2. Fernanda Carvajal (ETSU) def. Maeve Thornton (FUR) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Ellie Schulson (FUR) def. Daniela Rivera (ETSU) 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-0
4. Grace Thomas (FUR) def. Jana Rovira (ETSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Alessandra Caceres (ETSU) def. Macy Hitchcock (FUR) 7-5, 6-0
6. Marissa Pennings (FUR) def. Ralitsa Alexandrova (ETSU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2
 
Doubles Competition
1. Fernanda Carvajal/Daniela Rivera (ETSU) def. Ellie Schulson/Macy Hitchcock (FUR) 6-1
2. Sofia Markova/Alessandra Caceres (ETSU) def. Jess Dawson/Sara Snyder (FUR) 6-2
3. Maeve Thornton/Grace Thomas (FUR) def. Ralitsa Alexandrova/Jana Rovira (ETSU) 6-3
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,2,4,3,6,1)
 
By finishing 7-0 in SoCon play, the Bucs will be the No. 1 seed for next week's SoCon Women's Tennis Tournament. It'll be the first time that the Bucs will be a No. 1 seed for a conference tournament since 2013. This year's tournament will take place at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee from April 18-20/21. ETSU's first match will be on April 18 at 8:30 a.m. against the No. 8 seed. Stay tuned to etsubucs.com and our various social media channels in the coming days for more information on SoCon Tournament. 
 
For more information on Buccaneer women's tennis, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's tennis tab.