ETSU women to face Clemson in NCAA tourney

For East Tennessee State Director of Tennis Ricky Rojas, it never gets old to see one of his team's name pop up on the screen during the NCAA tournament selection show. Rojas celebrated with his women's team as it was announced the Southern Conference champion Lady Bucs (16-7) will face Clemson (17-8) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The match will take place at the Lummis Family Center in Nashville, hosted by Vanderbilt. "It's been a great season for the ladies. It's exciting to see them have another opportunity to play in the postseason," Rojas said during a watch party at the Culp Center. "Our schedule, we played a lot of tough teams that helped us get ready for the conference tournament. We played three good matches, but the rest of the year helped us a lot." Clemson comes into the tournament with losses in four of its last five matches. That includes a 4-3 loss to Notre Dame in the ACC tournament. Still, Rojas knows they're a quality opponent. Freshman Rinon Okuwaki is an All-ACC selection after a 17-4 record, primarily playing on court two. The Tigers' No. 1 singles player Jade Groen lost in three sets in the deciding match, but the No. 3, 4 and 5 singles of Romana Cisovska, Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Artemis Aslanisvili all won their matches. "They're good. Anybody you play in the tournament is going to be good," Rojas said. "We played them in the past and we know they're a good program. But again, our team is good too." Ksenija Rage played at No. 1 for ETSU in its 4-1 Southern Conference tournament championship win over Furman. Rage, a sophomore from Latavia, was named the 2025 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year. She sported a 5-2 record in the SoCon, playing in the top spot. She and No. 3 singles player Julia Millan posted a 12-8 record as doubles team. "We've worked really hard where we've improved technically, and the team chemistry has meant a lot," Rage said. "It's about the energy and execution to see how it goes." Rage believes the improvement in her ground strokes, and learning tactics of playing against bigger and better players will help her in the matchup with Groen. Millan, a junior from Spain, went 15-6 this season. She was leading her match in the third set at the SoCon championship when the overall match was called. Now, she gets an opportunity to go against another team from Upstate South Carolina. "I'm so excited to play against Clemson. The chance to play nationals is amazing," Millan said. "We've worked super hard to get here. I've looked at us now from the first of the season and it's so different." Alessandra Caceres, a junior from Chile, went 13-8 at No. 2 singles. Mariangel Estrella, a freshman from Venezuela, posted the best record 18-2 at No. 5 singles. Playing at No. 4, French sophomore Audelie Lesauvage was effective with a 16-2 mark. Niyati Kukerti, a junior from India, rounds out the roster at No. 6 singles. The Utah State transfer had a combined 19 wins in singles and doubles. The message from Rojas to all the players is they have a chance to make history as the first ETSU women's team to win a match in the NCAA championships. "Our team is excited and ready," Rojas said. "We're a mentally tough team. It's hard to get six people mentally clicking at the same time, but we have players with a lot of experience. I think you ask anybody and they will say that's a tough team that competes, hard to beat." Tennessee (13-9) will face Old Dominion in its opening-round match in the Durham region.