Nashville, Tenn. - No. 24 Clemson Women’s Tennis (19-8, 7-6 ACC) defeated ETSU (16-9, 6-1 SoCon) 4-1 Friday afternoon in Nashville to advance in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers fought back after dropping the doubles point, winning four straight singles matches to secure the victory.
Senior Romana Cisovska and Sophomore Talia Neilson-Gatenby got out in front early, ultimately defeating Alessandra Caceres/Mariangel Estrella 6-4. On court one, The Buccaneers evened things as Julia Millan/Ksenija Rage bested the No. 57 ranked duo of Rinon Okiwaki and Jade Groen 6-4. The doubles point would be decided by the final match on court five, where Audeile Lesauvage and Niyati Kukreti defeated Artemis Aslanisvili and Sophie Clayton, 6-3 to put ETSU ahead 1-0.
Senior Jade Groen tied the match at one point a piece with her 7-5, 6-1 victory over Ksenija Rage on court 1. Cisovska gave the Tigers the 2-1 advantage with a straight set victory over Millan 7-5, 6-2. Neilson-Gatenby defeated Lesauvage 7-6(4), 6-2 to pull the Tigers within one point of victory. #74 Rinon Okuwaki clinched the match for the Tigers with a thrilling 7-5, 7-6(5) win over Caceres on court 2. Ria Bhakta and Artemis Aslanisvili both led their respective matches before they were abandoned.
UP NEXT: The Tigers will face off with the winner of Vanderbilt (20-9, 9-6 SEC) and Xavier (16-8, 4-0 Big East) on Saturday, May 2 at 5 p.m. ET for a chance to move on to the round of 16.
BOX SCORES:
Doubles (2,1,3*)
- Caceres/Estrella (ETSU) def. #57 Okuwaki/Groen (CU), 6-4
- Neilson-Gatenby/Cisovska (CU) def. Millan/Rage (ETSU), 6-4
- Lesauvage/Kukreti (ETSU) def. Clayton/Aslanisvili (CU), 6-3
Singles (1,3,4,2*)
- Groen (CU) def. Rage (ETSU), 7-5, 6-1
- Matsuno (UND) def. #69 Okuwaki (CU), 7-5, 6-4
- Cisovska (CU) def. Millan (ETSU), 7-5, 6-2
- Neilson-Gatenby (CU) def. Lesauvage (ETSU), 7-6(4), 6-2
- Aslanisvili (CU) led Mariangel (ETSU), 5-7, 6-4, 2-0 ABD
- Bhakta (CU) led Kukreti (ETSU), 7-5, 5-2 ABD