I know I have yet to go back and answer questions someone asked me last season. I still plan on doing that - I just haven't.

With that said......................
The girls gave 'bama all they could handle yesterday:

'bama defeats ETSU women, but it's closer than the score indicates

In addition to Pascual-Larrinaga winning at #3, three of the other singles matches went split sets. To be clear, 'bama's women's team is not a strong SEC contingent, but still, that's a good showing.

Looks like the Tashkent freshman, Laylo Bakhodirova, is the real deal. And with freshmen at #1, 4, and 5, veteran Yi Chi Ma is pushed all the way down to #6 (which should give her more chance at successes), this could be a team to watch. Looks like Ricky has brought in some nice talent - and not a senior on the team after we lost 4 of them after last season. They also earlier beat Va. Tech, who while also not a terribly strong team, hasn't been embarrassed by anyone, including Purdue and other ACC teams so far.

[Just a note not to necessarily count on me for many updates. Will try to give spotty comments as the season moves on - for both teams.]

So the girls today fell to Xavier in Cincy, 4-3. Must have been one incredible match, as 5 of the 6 singles matches went split sets, with the Bucs losing 4 of those after winning doubles. Xavier is pretty good, at 8-2, having split with a couple of Big 10 teams, and have won their two Big East matches on the road. But they're not ranked - at least not yet.

Meanwhile........in Bristol, the guys roughed up the Ragin' Cajuns 7-0. It was a fairly convincing victory, with only two matches going to three sets. The Cajuns were 14-3 coming in, mostly against weaker comp, but not totally, so they truly aren't bad. Maybe only in retrospect will we know how good they will end up being.
Frazier Rengifo has been named SoCon player of the week twice already, but that's not necessarily the highest praise, as we haven't faced any tough conference comp yet. He's apparently moved up to #1 over Fontcuberta.

Season-wise, for the guys, they're going to be pretty good, I think. They've lost to #22 Arizona 6-1, barely lost to a pretty good Iowa team 4-3 (way back in January), and *barely* lost to #40 ODU 4-3 (all on the road, of course). Iowa hasn't started their Big 10 schedule yet, so it's premature to see how good they'll be; probably not near the top, tho.

Glad to see the guys vanquish Ga. St. after how they acted two years ago here. But it's pretty obvious this Panther team isn't as strong as that one was. It was 4-0, but closer than that indicates.
Also yesterday........the Panthers knocked off Southern Miss (also here), so today's match of ETSU vs. Southern Miss should go our way. And that match should be starting about now for those not in Asheville or church.

Still haven't had time to make a comprehensive post to catch you all up to date. But the men host UNC-W tomorrow at 11 - their penultimate home match. I post this because one poll (Massey) has ETSU ranked 39th. I think that's maybe high, but that's what they say. (The Seahawks are ranked 79th in this poll.) A while back the ITA and USTA chopped down their national rankings to the top 25, so one has to scrounge a bit to get more info. As expected the losses to Iowa, ODU and MTSU (ALL 4-3) hurt, but all were on the road, too.

[edit: Oh, I meant to also say that another site "Slam.tennis" ranks ETSU 58th, which seems more reasonable.]

Anyway........could be a good match.....

Sorry for the late notice, but ETSU women on the road against their bitter 'rivals', just underway, in Greenville. Furple ranked 48th, and is 30-1 all-time vs. ETSU. But remember, Danni Vines is out for the year. Still, a very uphill battle.
[Update before posting]: In fact, Furple has just closed out the doubles point, winning 6-4 at both #3 and #2 (and they also completed match #1, winning that one 6-4).
This battle is for the conference regular-season title, as both are undefeated.

Furman's preview take on today's match

Edit/update: girls are actually holding their own in singles (so far)!

Further update: play has been suspended for a while due to lightning in the area.

Yet another update: Crap. Moving it indoors. These shifts have been the death knells for ETSU tennis several times in the past! ETSU actually slightly up in 4 of the 6 singles matches. Only 4 indoor courts. Looks like to me the lightning danger is moving away....

New post with further updates..............

Alejandra Morales has won her first set at #2, and so has Raquel Amaro at #4. We're down in the other two ongoing matches, however. It's a real battle...

Update: At #1, Furple's strong and steady Katarina Kozarov closed out Laylo Bakhodirova, and their Julia Adams captured the first set, coming from behind, 7-5. So in the 4 ongoing matches, it's 2-2 of first sets won. Amaro is well up in her second set, tho, so we should at least win 1. Furman's sole Senior Day honoree, Katty Weymouth, has pulled slightly ahead of Morales at #2 in the second set.

Further update: Weymouth, who's only lost 3 times all year, and only once since early February, fought back to even the match at a set apiece at #2. It would have been a HUGE step forward if Alejandra could have closed that out (and of course she still could, but to me that's the sick feeling of momentum changing.....).

Raquel Amaro's destruction of Furman's Madison Dillon (6-1, 6-0!) is puzzling. Dillon had only lost 1 previous match all year, and that at Penn St. in Feb. Anyway, we'll take it.

Weymouth has already broken Alejandra in the third, so as I feared, that's not looking good. Worse.......Julia Adams has broken Andrea in the second, and is up 4-1. Indeed, moving indoors is once again proving to be an Achilles heel. Home-court advantage in tennis, when having to play indoors, is much magnified vs. playing outdoors, as one might imagine. Sigh.....

Update: Unless Laylo can come back and win at #1 (which is conceivable), they won't even need to see what happens at #'s 5 and 6. They've re-started at #5 now, and we're down 4-5 in the first set there. Julia Adams completed her win over Andrea, so Furple up overall now 2-1.

Further update: Just about to end. After a brutal game to even the second set 4-4, at #1, Kozarov closed that out to give Furple a 3-1 lead, with Weymouth about to finish off Alejandra in the third to end it.

And it's finished, 4-1, with senior Weymouth claiming the decider. (Furman's) Carol Elizabeth Kerman edged Yunuen Elizarraras7-6 in the first set at #5, but I doubt they'll finish those last two matches. I don't think this can be considered a moral victory, as having to move indoors just leaves a sour taste after leading (slightly) when that had to happen. But the Paladin(ettes) know they were in a fight - which is not surprising to them. This match, with Danni being out, may have been ETSU's best chance to knock them off in this 'era' (narrowly defined). BUT - conference tournament coming up soon, and maybe this will give the Buc(ettes) enough confidence to go in with the proverbial chip on their shoulder.

IN OTHER (tennis) NEWS.............

The men edged Mercer yesterday in Macon, 4-3. *Very* fortunate we won the doubles point in that one. (The deciding match/set was 7-5 at #2. Whew.)
Yusuf Khamis, at #4, was the decider in singles, outlasting Carver Arant 7-5, 7-6(5). Can you say "could have gone either way"? I haven't seen Mercer play this year, but they'll apparently much improved. They played always-tough Georgia close earlier.
AND..................they had nip-and-tuck battles with conference foes Wofford, UTC, Furple, and just today, Samford, losing 4-3 -- meaning ETSU will NOT have an easy time at the conference tournament.

Sorry I wasn't able to post play-by-play on that one, and sorry I just can't keep up with all the tennis stuff this season. Will try to give an update soon..............

(04-13-2019 02:57 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  And it's finished, 4-1, with senior Weymouth claiming the decider. (Furman's) Carol Elizabeth Kerman edged Yunuen Elizarraras7-6 in the first set at #5, but I doubt they'll finish those last two matches. I don't think this can be considered a moral victory, as having to move indoors just leaves a sour taste after leading (slightly) when that had to happen. But the Paladin(ettes) know they were in a fight - which is not surprising to them. This match, with Danni being out, may have been ETSU's best chance to knock them off in this 'era' (narrowly defined). BUT - conference tournament coming up soon, and maybe this will give the Buc(ettes) enough confidence to go in with the proverbial chip on their shoulder.

"Dominates"?? I think that's far too strong a term:

Furman (supposedly) "dominates" ETSU

It looks like they played out the final two courts, with Elizarraras playing Kerman very, very close at #5. Yi Chi Ma lost at #6 convincingly. I was hoping it wouldn't come down to her, as that would have been a very unfavorable match.

It was a clear victory, but "dominated"? I don't think so.

After considering starting a new thread for the tournament, I decided to just keep it here......

SoCon tournaments start(ed) today in Macon. Girls just underway in their first match against WCU. That *might* be more difficult than it should be. Furple already won their first round earlier. (And hope I'm not being too "predictive" in noting that.)
Guys start this afternoon (theoretically) at 1 vs. El Cid. That match shouldn't be a problem, even tho they took one singles match from us last week in the regular season match-up.

I'll try to keep this board updated on the girls' match......

[first update: pulled the doubles point out of their ***. Lucky as can be to survive that.]

[second update: ......and...........the live stats feed quit at the end of the doubles - unless they're taking a very unusually long time to begin singles. No weather in the area down there, so I suspect a technical problem.]

[third update: ETSU up 3-0, but beyond that, the only score visible is Laylo Bakhodirova winning her first set 7-5 at #1. That's the extent of what's visible. Pathetic web site maintenance.]

And the girls finish off the Catamounts, 4-0. The live stats is still broken, and the only tidbits available are that the #3 singles match was the first to finish, and Bakhodirova finished off her opponent 6-0 in the second set, presumably to provide the fourth point.

Update before posting: LOL - they've now got the full scores report AT THE MERCER vs. WOFFORD link:

ETSU over WCU, pretending to be either Mercer or Wofford

So we'll play the *real* winner of Mercer vs. Wofford tomorrow at 10 AM.

[further update: So we'll be playing the Terriers. We beat them 6-1 in the regular season, but it was closer than that. Two of the singles victories went 3 sets.]

As expected, the guys ousted El Cid without losing a set.
Play winner of Sammie/Wofford tomorrow at 2.

All tennis weather-delayed. Women will not start before 3 PM. Not sure yet on the guys, but start times will depend on when the threat of storms passes and courts dry.
Will update here as I can.

[update: second squall line is now through Macon; girls got started in doubles, but had to quit. Now scheduled to re-start at ~5:30. Don't think the guys got started, but hard to tell from the dysfunctional SoCon web site. Getting my info from a better source.]

Female Bucs win, but it wasn't easy. Lost the doubles point (AGAIN), but clawed back to win 4 singles matches. Raquel Amaro continued her absolutely stellar play by blasting thru her opponent, Kay Kluska, 2 and 0 at #3. Then fellow freshman Yunuen Elizarraras also won similarly easily, 2 and 1 at #5. Alejandra Moralas gutted out a 5 and 4 win at #2. Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga put us over the top with a tight 4 and 3 win at #3. And boy it's a good thing, too, as Laylo Bakhodirova and Yi Chi Ma were struggling. Bakhodirova was down 3-6, 3-5. and Yi Chi, who won the first set, was down in the second.

As expected, Furple put down Sammie 4-0, so us against them, AGAIN, tomorrow at 4. The match last Saturday was close enough that there is *some* hope. Bakhodirova would likely need to win, and/or Elizarraras, and/or Morales, AND Amaro once again obliterate Madison Dillon, or whoever the Paladins send in against her. Don't be surprised if they shuffle the line-up this time to avoid just that. Elizarraras and Morales both lost in 3 sets last Saturday, so it could be another war. Almost certainly we'll lose at #6, I think. Doubles may decide the match, and that's not a comfortable feeling....

Men's doubles under way; we're up a break in #3, but not enough to hang a pirate's hat on yet.
[Edit: oh, by the way, our opponent is Wofford, who's #1 guy, Julian Chousa, edged Sammie's Rossouw Norval 7-6 in the third yesterday, so it most certainly could have gone the other way.]

(04-19-2019 07:20 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Men's doubles under way; we're up a break in #3, but not enough to hang a pirate's hat on yet.
[Edit: oh, by the way, our opponent is Wofford, who's #1 guy, Julian Chousa, edged Sammie's Rossouw Norval 7-6 in the third yesterday, so it most certainly could have gone the other way.]

Play again suspended due to a small shower. Giving up for the night and will resume tomorrow at 10 AM. Tentative schedule:

10am - Men's Semifinals completion
1pm - Women's Finals
3pm - Men's Finals

As of quittin' time, we're up a break at #3 doubles, and down a break at #2 doubles. No blood drawn at #1.

Once again, showers have pushed things back. Going to *try* to get the men's semis started ~2, and then the wimmenfolk's final ~3:30-4. Not sure if they're going to try and play the men's final later on or not. I think so, but far from sure.

[Update: And we're finally under way. I think, since the guys and girls are going on simultaneously, I'll use different colors for each kind. See next post.....]

Women's final:
Doubles is tight. Nobody's up more than 1 game. *Really* need to win doubles.

[update: Dang this is tight. One win each. Amaro and Yi Chi Ma are 6-6. Cant be any closer.]
[further update: Crap. As feared, Paladins prevail in the tiebreaker. Will be *very* hard to climb out of this hole.]

Men's semi:
We won the doubles point over Wofford, but it wasn't easy. Furple won their doubles point over surging-late-in-the-year Mercer.

[update: guys have won the first set in 3 matches. Looking good......]

Women's final:
Not looking good in singles. Madison Dillon is up 3-2 on Raquel Amaro, and remember, Amaro crushed Dillon last Saturday 1 and 0. Worse......Bakhodirova is down 4-0 to Kozarov at #1. We are up a break at # 3 and #6, but it will take more than that.
[update: We've lost the first set in two matches, and won it in one. Still possible, but some momentum is going to have to swing.]
[further update: Raquel Amaro pulled out her first set in a tiebreaker over Madison Dillon at #3, and both Yi Chi Ma and Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga have won their first sets, too, so it's still game on. Morales and Katty Weymouth are in a long-lasting tiebreaker at #2. Tense - and maybe Furple feels that.]
[Yet another update: Weymouth won that tiebreaker, unfortunately. Kozarov just finished off Bakhodirova. So Furple up 2-0. That said, Elizarraras just split, and Andrea is on the verge of winning her match (but has been for awhile). We now have to win 4 of the remaining 5 matches. Quite unlikely, to be honest.]
[Probably final update before the end: Raquel won hers, and Andrea just squeezed out hers ,7-5 in the second. Now 2-2, but still an uphill climb. Alejandra (down 2-3 in the second; Elizarraras (split; hasn't started third yet); and Yi Chi (won her first but struggling to stay even in the second) hold the balance on their rackets.
Can cut the proverbial tension with the proverbial knife.]


Men's semi:
We've won 5 first sets in singles. This one's going to go our way......

[update: Indeed, we win this one 4-0 losing only 1 set. (Julian Chousa won the first one from Frazier Rengifo.) Miguel Este won 0 and 0 at #6. He seems to have really gotten rolling the last part of the season.
This one may have been a little easier than expected. Finals in a little while will not be this way, whether it be Mercer or Furman.