SEMIFINAL'S SCORES
#2 SIUE 4, #3 Eastern Kentucky 0
#1 UT Martin 4, #4 Eastern Illinois 3
#2 SIUE 4, #3 EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE women's tennis overcame Eastern Kentucky in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament to advance to the championship round.
SIUE clinched the match 4-0 to advance. Sierra Halverson and Monique Krutak won at No. 2 doubles along with Lexi Aranda and Morgan Steffes at No. 3 doubles.
Mia Frogner and Madeline Hill won from No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, in straight sets. McKenzie Thomas earned a win at No. 6 on a default.
The Cougars advance to the championship to face No. 1 seed UT Martin, who defeated Eastern Illinois 4-3.
#1 UT MARTIN 4, #4 EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Facing a deuce point with the overall match on the line, freshman Jemima Potter won the point and lifted the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis team a 4-3 comeback victory over No.4 seed Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon.
The top seeded Skyhawks revenged their only regular season conference loss in the victory, in a match that saw three singles matches go to decisive final sets. After dropping the doubles point for only the second time against a conference opponent, UT Martin rallied with four singles victories to secure the match. The victory pushes the Skyhawks’ winning streak to eight matches, the third longest in program history.
The doubles action proved to be the preview of the tough battle between the two squads, as all three matches went back and forth. The duo of Potter and junior Hitomi Naito earned the lone Skyhawk pairs victory, with a 6-4 win at the No. 2 spot to extend their winning streak to seven matches. Eastern Illinois rallied back, winning at No. 1, 6-3, and at No. 3 by a 6-4 margin.
Needing four victories in singles action, UT Martin battled for every game. After Eastern Illinois’ Ali Foster made the score 2-0 with a straight set victory against Naito, the Skyhawks rallied back with a pair of victories. Junior Sarah Candeloro notched her eight win at the No. 1 spot with a 6-2, 6-4 win to make it 2-1. Fellow junior Burcu Tari tied the match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against the Panthers’ Srishta Slaria.
The attention of the large crowd turned to courts No. 3, 5 and 6 as all three matches went to third sets with the winner coming back from first set deficits. After dropping the opening set 6-4, sophomore Elina Geut rallied back with a 6-2, 6-1 third set victory for the Skyhawks’ first lead of the match. It wouldn’t last for long as Grace Summers’ downed freshman Asel Jumamukhambetova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 setting up Potter and Hannah Kimbrough for the final remaining match.
Much like her first matching clinching victory against Eastern Kentucky earlier in the season, Potter fell behind in difficult fashion. The Northampton, England native dropped the opening set in a first set tiebreaker but battled back from a 4-1 second set deficit to win the set 6-4. Potter’s adversity continued after dropping the first game of the set. However, Potter rallied back with six straight wins to lift the Skyhawks to their first tournament win since 2014.
UT Martin will face off against No. 2 seed SIUE tomorrow for the OVC crown. The Cougars downed No. 3 Eastern Kentucky 4-0 to earn their spot in the final against the Skyhawks. First serve from the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville is set for 2 p.m.