Laylo Bakhodirova/Women's Tennis | East Tennessee State University
Laylo Bakhodirova/Women's Tennis | East Tennessee State University
The Southern Conference announced its first SoCon Women’s Tennis Player of the Week award winner of the spring season on Tuesday, naming ETSU senior Laylo Bakhodirova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) as the honoree.
Bakhodirova is now a four-time SoCon Player of the Week winner, including two last season and one in 2020.
A mainstay at No. 1 singles and doubles for ETSU, Bakhodirova went 4-0 in her matches last week in a pair of 5-2 team wins over Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific in Honolulu. Her efforts helped ETSU to its first 2-0 start since 2016.
In top-flight singles action, Bakhodirova defeated Hawaii’s Ana Vilcek by a 6-4, 6-3 final last Thursday to clinch the match with the team’s fourth point. The following day, she won 6-2, 6-2 against Hawaii Pacific’s Shaline Pipa which put the Bucs ahead for good with a 2-1 team lead.
On the doubles side, Bakhodirova teamed up twice with graduate Mariya Shumeika (Minsk, Belarus) to pick up two doubles wins in the top flight. Both scores were 6-3, with the Hawaii one serving as the clinching point of doubles and the HPU match serving as the first of two doubles wins.
For her career, Bakhodirova owns a 44-30 record in No. 1 singles, including an 20-6 record last spring and this spring combined. She entered the fall season as the No. 106 rated player in the ITA Preseason Rankings.
ETSU will play its next match closer to home with a short road trip to Lexington to face Kentucky. First serve is set for next Friday, Jan. 20 at 10 a.m.
The Bucs will play the next five matches on the road with stops at Kentucky, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Lipscomb and Belmont. The home opener in Bristol is set for Feb. 9 against Appalachian State.
For more information on Buccaneer women’s tennis, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s tennis page.
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