ETSU women's tennis tears through SoCon awards, Markova named Player of the Year

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WCYB) — In the lead-up to the Southern Conference men's and women's tennis tournaments that begin Thursday - ETSU was well represented in the season awards on both sides, which concluded with two Player of the Year nods.

On the men's side was Dimitri Badra, and then that was followed up by Sofia Markova being named the women's tennis SoCon Player of the Year to complete the Buc sweep.

The Germany native had a stellar first campaign with ETSU, going 14-7 in singles action that included a 7-0 mark in SoCon play. Markova also was All-SoCon Second Team in doubles with her partner Alessandra Caceres.

Overall, the Bucs landed six different All-SoCon honors when the awards were released on Wednesday - on top of Ricky Rojas being named the Coach of the Year.

Fernanda Carvajal joined Markova on the All-SoCon First Team for singles, along with earning All-SoCon First Team honors in doubles with partner Daniela Rivera. Rivera landed a spot on All-SoCon Second Team in singles along with fellow Buc Alessandra Caceres. On top of her work in doubles with Markova, Caceres went a perfect 7-0 in SoCon play in her first collegiate season and earned All-SoCon Freshman Team honors as well. Jana Rovira also landed a spot on the All-SoCon Freshman squad as well with Caceres.

ETSU will return to the court on Thursday when it opens play at the SoCon Women's Tennis Tournament. The top-seeded Bucs will face No. 8 seed UNC Greensboro at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.