ETSU upsets No. 68 Furman in the SoCon Women’s Tennis Championship

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The ETSU Buccaneers defeated the 68^th-ranked Furman Paladins, 4-1, at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, securing the SoCon Tournament title on Saturday. One week ago on April 11, ETSU fell to Furman, 6-1, in the teams’ first matchup this season, which gave the Paladins the regular season title

Saturday’s win for the Bucs was their fourth SoCon Tournament championship. Each of those victories have come in the last 10 seasons, including winning three of the last four titles.

The Paladins captured the first doubles match at the No. 2 position as Bianca Ceroni and Macy Hitchcock topped Ksenija Rage and Julia Millan, 6-1. In a battle of first-team all-conference tandems on court one, ETSU’s Mariangel Estrella and Alessandra Caceres upset 46^th-ranked Elle Warren and Lillie Murphy, 6-4. ETSU would eventually get the doubles point after Niyati Kukreti and Audelie Lesauvage were victorious over Sasha Dimitrov and Molly Robinson, 7-5, giving the Buccaneers the doubles point.

In singles play, court one and two both featured matchups for first-team all-conference selections. Warren got a 6-2, 6-1, win over Caceres at the No. 2 spot, evening the score at 1-1. Rage gave ETSU the lead back with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Murphy.

At the No. 5 position, Estrella, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, grabbed a 6-4, 6-4, win against Lily Doherty, bringing the squad one point away from the championship. Kukreti then outlasted Robinson, 7-5, 7-5, on court six, ending the match and giving ETSU the victory.

Kukreti earned the Pinnacle Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team. The Kinesiology major from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, boasts a 4.0 GPA.
 
The Bucs, who earned the SoCon’s automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships, will learn their postseason fate on Monday, April 27, with an announcement on NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m.

Singles competition
1. Ksenija Rage (ETSU) def. Lillie Murphy (FUR) 6-4, 7-5

2. Elle Warren (FUR) def. Alessandra Caceres (ETSU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Macy Hitchcock (FUR) vs. Julia Millan (ETSU) 3-6, 6-4, 1-2, unfinished
4. Bianca Ceroni (FUR) vs. Audelie Lesauvage (ETSU) 6-3, 3-6, 5-4, unfinished
5. Mariangel Estrella (ETSU) def. Lily Doherty (FUR) 6-4, 6-4

6. Niyati Kukreti (ETSU) def. Molly Robinson (FUR) 7-5, 7-5

 
Doubles competition
1. Mariangel Estrella/Alessandra Caceres (ETSU) def. Elle Warren/Lillie Murphy (FUR) 6-4

2. Bianca Ceroni/Macy Hitchcock (FUR) def. Ksenija Rage/Julia Millan (ETSU) 6-1
3. Niyati Kukreti/Audelie Lesauvage (ETSU) def. Sasha Dimitrov/Molly Robinson (FUR) 7-5
  
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,5,6)

*****

 
2026 SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 16

Match 1: No. 1 Furman 4, No. 8 Western Carolina 0

Match 2: No. 4 Wofford 4, No. 5 Samford 0

Match 3: No. 3 Chattanooga 4, No. 6 UNCG 0

Match 4: No. 2 ETSU 4, No. 7 Mercer 0

Friday, April 17

Match 5: No. 1 Furman 4, No. 4 Wofford 2

Match 6: No. 2 ETSU 4, No. 3 Chattanooga 2

Saturday, April 18

Match 7: No. 2 ETSU 4, No. 1 Furman 1