Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – The Hokies find a 4-3 win in a nail-biter against ETSU in their home opener, thanks to a gritty match from Tara Gorinsek.
Tech had a strong start to the day as Charlotte Cartledge and Özlem Uslu picked up a quick 6-1 win over ETSU’s Jana Rovira and Julia Millan on Court 2. Arina Gamretkaia and Linda Ziets-Segura clinched the doubles point for the Hokies as they defeated Ralista Alexandrova and Ksenija Rage 6-2. Semra Aksu and Gorinsek were battling back on Court 1, from down 5-2, but the Hokies were able to clinch the point before they could finish their comeback.
In singles, Aksu had another strong showing as she picked up the first individual win for Tech on the afternoon with a 6-4, 6-1 sweep of Rovira.
Uslu found her first win of the season on Court 1 with a 7-5, 6-4 sweep of Daniela Rivera. She battled back from down in both sets to take the win.
Gorinsek played in the gritty back-and-forth battle to ultimately clinch the win for the Hokies. The senior won the first set 7-6(4), coming back from down 5-2, before dropping a heartbreaker in the second set tiebreak, 10-8. She battled throughout the entire third set to beat out ETSU's Alexandrova 7-5 in the third-set tiebreak.
Laima Frosch and Mila Mulready both played out three-set matches but were unable to break through to find a win.
UP NEXT: The Hokies remain home to play Indiana on Saturday, February 1 at 1 p.m.