Johnson City, Tenn. – Despite taking a step closer to fielding a full lineup, Western Carolina women's tennis dropped its Southern Conference opener on Tuesday, falling to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers 7-0 at the on-campus ETSU Athletic Center.

Having battled through a slew of injuries through the early schedule, the Catamounts were able to compete on all three doubles courts for the first time since the season-opening weekend.

WCU (1-7, 0-1 SoCon) has a few days of rest before returning to nonconference play, hosting the North Carolina A&T Aggies on Sat., Feb. 28. ETSU (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) is back in SoCon action on the same date as they travel to take on the UNC Greensboro Spartans.  

How it Happened:  

Fielding a full doubles lineup for the first time since Jan. 18 at Clemson, the Catamounts fell on all three courts to the Bucs by scores of 6-3, 6-2, and 6-0 on courts 1-3.

Still not back to 100%, the Catamounts forfeit on singles court No. 6, giving ETSU the early 2-0 lead in the match. The Bucs secured the victory with a 6-2, 6-0 win on court four over Axelle van Beurden and a 6-2, 6-2 win on the third court over Jenelle Roberts, who made her first match appearance since Jan. 18.  

Mariya Dobreva fell in straight sets on the top court, with Ksenija Rage picking up the 7-5, 6-4 win. Mia Miranda earned WCU's sole set victory of the day on the second court, taking a 6-4 win over Alessandra Caceres before falling 6-4, 1-0 (10-2) as ETSU took the 6-0 lead.  

The Bucs secured the sweep with a win on the fifth court as Kelly Coetzee fell 6-1, 6-2 to Niyati Kukreti.

Up Next for The Catamounts:

WCU returns home for back-to-back home matches, hosting NC A&T on Sat., Feb. 28, and the mountain-rival UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Friday, March 6. The Catamounts then hit the road for a run of spring break matches in Orlando, Fla., taking on Quinnipiac (March 12) and Penn (March 13) on back-to-back days.