CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (April 16, 2026) – The No. 2 seed ETSU women's tennis team opened the SoCon Tournament with a 4-0 shutout win over No. 7 seed Mercer on Thursday from Chattanooga. Thursday's victory improves ETSU's record to 14-7 this season.
 
ETSU began the match by winning two of the three doubles tilts. Niyati Kukreti and Audelie Lesauvage got the ball rolling for the Bucs with a 6-2 win before the tandem of Ksenija Rage and Julia Millan clinch the point for ETSU.
 
Moving onto singles, Millan quickly made the score 2-0 ETSU thanks to a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Mercer's Tea Zivic, 6-1, 6-0. Mariangel Estrella won her 16^th singles match in a row to make it 3-0 Bucs before Lesauvage punched ETSU's ticket to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Ines Homberg.
 
Thursday's full match results can be found below.
 
Singles Competition
1. Ksenija Rage (ETSU) vs. Marina de Diego Quinones (MER) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0, unfinished
2. Alessandra Caceres (ETSU) vs. Sofiya Tsilavets (MER) 2-6, 7-5, 0-3, unfinished
3. Julia Millan (ETSU) def. Tea Zivic (MER) 6-1, 6-0
4. Audelie Lesauvage (ETSU) def. Ines Homberg (MER) 6-3, 6-2
5. Mariangel Estrella (ETSU) def. Marie Bannmeyer (MER) 6-0, 6-3
6. Niyati Kukreti (ETSU) vs. Valent Abide Talaki (MER) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
 
Doubles Competition
1. Marina de Diego Quinones/Ines Homberg (MER) def. Mariangel Estrella/Alessandra Caceres (ETSU) 7-5
2. Ksenija Rage/Julia Millan (ETSU) def. Sofiya Tsilavets/Tea Zivic (MER) 7-5
3. Niyati Kukreti/Audelie Lesauvage (ETSU) def. Marie Bannmeyer/Jelena Gojkovic (MER) 6-2 
 
ETSU will be back in action on Friday when it takes on No. 3 seed Chattanooga in the SoCon Tournament Semifinals. First serve between the Bucs and Mocs is set for 10 a.m. from the Champions Club in Chattanooga.
 
For more information on Buccaneer women's tennis, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's tennis tab.