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WOMEN'S SCORES - FIRST ROUND
#6 UT Martin 4, #3 Murray State 3
#5 Southeast Missouri 4, #4 Belmont 1
UT MARTIN 4, MURRAY STATE 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Ohio Valley Conference quarterfinal matchup between the No. 6 seeded University of Tennessee at Martin and No. 3 seed Murray State came down to the final point, as the Skyhawks came out on top in a 4-3 thriller at Hadley Park.
UT Martin (6-11) notched its 26th all-time OVC Tournament triumph behind a complete effort, as all six active Skyhawks tallied a win on the day. All-OVC first teamer Asel Jumamukhambetova secured a pair of wins today, including the clinching point at No. 1 singles (6-2, 3-6, 6-4).
The Skyhawks began the match by obtaining the crucial doubles point thanks to wins at No. 1 and No. 2. In the top slot, Jumamukhambetova and Jemima Potter made short work of the opposition, winning 6-2. At No. 2, Daphne Pratt and Mizuki Sakurai fell behind early but generated a 7-5 comeback win to give UT Martin the early 1-0 advantage.
Andrea Plantada claimed UT Martin’s first singles win, defeating her counterpart by a 6-3, 6-3 margin at No. 5. Murray State (12-9) emerged victorious over the next two singles decisions to take a 3-2 lead but the resilient Skyhawks wouldn’t quit.
Amelia Campbell was responsible for her second consecutive gritty win, as she once again fought through cramps to come out on top at No. 4 (6-2, 6-7, 6-4). With the match knotted at 3-all, UT Martin didn’t have to wait long to celebrate. Approximately two minutes later, Jumamukhambetova put the finishing touches on the win with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 decision to give the Skyhawks their first OVC Tournament win since April 23, 2016.
UT Martin is right back at it on Saturday, April 27 when it takes on No. 2 seed Jacksonville State in Hadley Park at 10 a.m. The Skyhawks have won five of the last eight matchups against the Gamecocks but Jacksonville State won this year’s regular season matchup by a 6-1 margin on April 11.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's tennis (12-9) advanced to the Semifinals of the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship Friday with their first win at the Championship in 16 years, a 4-1 victory over No. 4 seed Belmont (12-9) at the Centennial Sportsplex.
Southeast last won an OVC Women's Tennis Championship match on April 27, 2003, when the No. 7 seed Redhawks beat No. 8 seed Austin Peay, 4-3, to take seventh place.
"We were mentally tough today and that's what got us the win," head coach Mary Beth Gunn said at the conclusion of the dual on Friday. "After we lost the doubles point we came together and everyone determined that they were going to get their singles match. This was the best singles play we have shown all season. We are really growing as a team."
With Friday's win at the 2019 OVC Women's Tennis Championship, No. 5 seed SEMO will now face top-seed Austin Peay (20-0) Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Centennial Sportsplex in the semifinals. The winner will face the victor of the other semifinal between #2 Jacksonville State (14-3) and #6 UT Martin (6-11) in the Championship Match Sunday at 10 a.m..
Southeast dropped the doubles point to Belmont to open Friday's First Round matchup before responding with four straight victories at the first, second, fourth and fifth positions.
Trailing the Bruins, 1-0, Romana Tarajova, the 2019 OVC women's tennis Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-OVC performer, evened the dual when she triumphed over Peyton Lee, 6-4, 6-4, at the top position.
Kseniya Zonova then pushed the Redhawks advantage to 2-0 when she cruised past Drew Hawkins, 6-2, 6-1, at no. 2 singles. Zonova paces SEMO this campaign with a 14-6 mark.
Teona Velkoska extended the Southeast lead to 3-1, when she ousted Maria Plaksina, 6-2, 6-2, at the fourth slot.
Sneha Sinha, a Germantown, Tennessee native, claimed the dual victory for Southeast at the fifth spot. Sinha bounced back after dropping the opening set, 0-6, to Terra Sheldon with 6-1, 6-4, second and third set wins.
Isabella Krupa and Manuela Barriga both led their matches at no. 3 and no. 6 singles, respectively before Sinha clinched the dual.
MEN'S SCORES - FIRST ROUND
#3 Jacksonville State 4, #6 Tennessee State 0
#5 Eastern Illinois 4, #4 Austin Peay 2
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Jacksonville State men's tennis team claimed a 4-0, first-round win over Tennessee State at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships on Friday.
The Gamecocks (12-6) swept the match over the Tigers (5-12) with the doubles point and three singles victories. Guillermo Agost led the way with his team-leading 12th win of the year along with a doubles win with partner Jordi Blanchar.
Agost and Blanchar topped Maksims Kazijevs and Larry Sloan 6-1 at No. 2 doubles, and Alexander Vishnevskiy and Joaquin Vallejo swept the No. 3 doubles set 6-0.
Agost then bested Sloan at No. 3 singles (6-0, 6-1) to put JSU up 2-0. Vallejo followed up with a two-set win over Leandros Misdrachis at No. 2, and Sergio Lizarraga secured the tournament victory in two sets over Alberto Ganzalez, 6-0, 6-1.
Jacksonville State advanced to the semifinals of the OVC Championships with the win and will face No. 2-seeded Belmont Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hadley Park.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, AUSTIN PEAY 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - – Eastern Illinois men’s tennis won its first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament match since the 2004 season on Friday afternoon as the fifth-seeded Panthers beat number four seed Austin Peay, 4-2, at the Centennial SportsPlex in Nashville. EIU will play top seed Tennessee Tech in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
EIU battled all afternoon against an Austin Peay team the Panthers have not won against since the 2009 season as they jumped out 1-0 in the match winning the doubles point. Gage Kingsmith and Daniel Hernandez won the deciding match at number two doubles as they won 7-5 over Christian Edison and Timo Kiesslich. Freddie O’Brien and Logan Charbonneau had won 6-1 at the number three doubles position while Austin Peay won at number one doubles.
In singles play EIU would get the needed points in the match from the bottom portion of its line-up. Hernandez won at number three singles with a 7-5, 6-2, win over Anton Damberg to pick up his 13th singles win of the season.
Kingsmith and Charbonneau secured points at number five and number six singles locking up the match. Kingsmith won 6-4, 7-6 at number five singles beating Jacob Lorino, 6-4, 7-6. Charbonneau won his match at number six singles by a 7-5, 6-2 score.
APSU would win points at number two and four singles while the match between Freddie O’Brien and Almantas Ozelis at number one singles was left unfinished as the Panthers clinched the win.
EIU improves to 14-14 on the season. Austin Peay ends the year at 6-15.