MEN'S SCORES
#1 Tennessee Tech 4, #4 Austin Peay 1 |
Box Score
#3 Belmont 4, #2 Jacksonville State 2 |
Box Score
TENNESSEE TECH 4, AUSITN PEAY 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Tennessee Tech tennis team took care of business in Saturday's OVC Tournament semifinals, as the Golden Eagles secured a 4-1 win over Austin Peay to advance to Sunday's championship match.
Tech's triumph pushes the purple and gold to its fifth consecutive OVC Tournament final, as the club moves one step closer to the OVC's first five-peat champion since Middle Tennessee claimed eight straight titles in the early to late 90s. The Golden Eagles (10-5) also picked up their 10th win in a row to match the program's longest winning streak since 2012.
Saturday's victory saw Tech collect the doubles point to jump ahead 1-0, despite having to forfeit the third clash due to not having enough players available to participate. TTU's top tandem of Evzen Holis and Jun Sasagawa notched a 6-2 win over Frederic Schlossmann and Anton Damberg, which was mirrored by Carlos Vicente and Rafael Tosetto in the No. 2 spot behind a 6-2 victory of their own against Oliver Andersson and Jacob Lorino.
The Golden Eagles displayed similar dominance over the Govs (2-11) during singles play, claiming all three completed battles on the way to the 4-1 finish. Vicente powered past Schlossman, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 1 spot, while Holis picked up a 6-1, 6-2 nod over Andersson in the No. 2 affair and Andre Rodeia earned a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Jacob Lorina in the No. 4 clash.
APSU's point came courtesy of a TTU forfeit in the No. 6 position. The other two singles tilts went unfinished, though Tech did win the first set in each instance thanks to a Rafael Tosetto 6-2 opening-set win over Anton Damberg in the No. 3 matchup and a Jun Sasagawa 6-2 first-set victory over Gabriel Nolasco Pozo in the No. 5 get-together.
The top-seeded Golden Eagles will go for glory in Sunday's championship match, awaiting the winner of No. 2 Jacksonville State and No. 3 Belmont in Saturday's second semifinal. The title bout is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT.
BELMONT 4, JACKSONVILLE STATE 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Belmont University men's tennis team earned a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship match, defeating Jacksonville State 4-2 on Saturday in the OVC Semifinals in Evansville.
Belmont will make its fourth OVC Championship appearance since joining the conference in the 2012-13 season, eyeing its first OVC Tournament title. The Bruins will look to win their second conference tournament championship and for their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
The Bruins claimed the doubles point with victories from seniors Marko Ilic and Taisei Miyamoto followed by a doubles victory from freshmen Tomas Luis and Diego Castro, going into singles play up 1-0. With Ilic/Miyamoto's 11th doubles victory of the season, the senior doubles team moved into a tie for 12th on the program's single season doubles wins list with Rodrigo Amaral/Joao Paoliello (2008-09) and Matt Fitzpatrick/Michael Moretti (2003-04). They need just one more to move into a tie for 11th on that list.
Ilic, the 2021 OVC Player of the Year, picked up his 12th singles victory of the season and his 57th career singles win in two sets by a pair of 7-5 scores. Junior Arthur Toledo, a 2021 All-OVC Second Team member, picked up his 13th singles win of the season to extend Belmont's lead in the match.
Jacksonville State picked up two singles wins in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, with the deciding point of the semifinal coming down to one match. That deciding match belonged to Belmont, thanks to freshman Alfred Wallin collecting his 11th singles win of the season with a two-set victory by scores of 6-3, 6-2.
The Bruins face Tennessee Tech for the OVC Championship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville. Belmont will look for revenge from the regular season, where the Golden Eagles defeated the Bruins on March 22 by a score of 5-2 at the Belmont Tennis Complex.
WOMEN'S SCORES
#1 Southeast Missouri 4, #4 Jacksonville State 1 |
Box Score
#2 Austin Peay 4, #3 Murray State 0 |
Box Score
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, AUSTIN PEAY 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Top-seeded Southeast Missouri women's tennis (15-4) bested #4 Jacksonville State (9-10), 4-1, Saturday afternoon at the Evansville Tennis Center to advance to Sunday's 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament Final.
"I am so proud of the tenacity that our team showed on the court today," head coach Mary Beth Gunn said. "After we lost the doubles point, the players refocused and we captured all the singles first sets which gave us a huge advantage. We are looking forward to competing again tomorrow."
SEMO will face #2 Austin Peay on Sunday in the 2021 OVC Championship Tournament Final. The match is set for 2:30 p.m., CT outdoors at the Wesselman Tennis Center. The Redhawks will make their first OVC Championship Tournament Final appearance Sunday.
Austin Peay defeated #3 Murray State, 4-0, in the second Semifinal on Saturday.
SEMO dropped the doubles point Saturday, registering a win at the middle position.
Ksenia Shikanova and Lera Valeeva defeated Sara Jamal and Harriet Hamilton, 6-0, at no. 2 doubles before the Gamecocks rallied off wins at the first and third slots.
Carolina Bulatovic and Malin Buechner overcame Romana Tarajova and Kseniya Zonova, 6-4, at the top spot before Dariana Prato and Balsen Kaya edged Daniela Hlacikova and Teona Velkoska, 6-4, at the final doubles position.
When competition switched to singles, SEMO recorded victories at the fifth, sixth, third and fourth positions to claim the first spot in Sunday's Final.
Vivian Lai (15-3) won her 11th consecutive match when she downed Jamal, 6-0, 6-2, to even the dual at 1-1. Lai is 8-0 in 2021 against OVC foes.
Velkoska then defeated Balsen Kaya, 6-2, 6-3, to provide the Redhawks a 2-1 edge.
Zonova grew the SEMO advantage to 3-1. The senior from Kharkiv, Ukraine, overcame Buechner, 6-4, 6-3 before Shikanova clinched the victory in three sets.
Shikanova, a 2021 All-OVC Second Team honoree, fought past Prato, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, to secure the semifinals win for SEMO.
Tarajova, the 2021 OVC Player of the Year, led her unfinished top singles match on Bulatovic, 6-2, 4-6, 5-1.
Hlacikova, the 2021 OVC Co-Freshman of the Year, was in the third set of her no. 2 match against Hamilton, 6-3, 4-6, 1-2, when Shikanova provided the Redhawks their game-winning point in the match.
SEMO will face #2 Austin Peay on Sunday in the 2021 OVC Championship Tournament Final. The match is set for 2:30 p.m., CT outdoors at the Wesselman Tennis Center (outdoors).
AUSTIN PEAY 4, MURRAY STATE 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Austin Peay State University women's tennis advanced to its third-straight Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship match by sweeping Murray State, 4-0, in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament, Saturday, at the Evansville Tennis Center.
Austin Peay (11-3, 5-2) will square off with Southeast Missouri (15-4, 7-0) at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, at the Wesselman Tennis Center in its third-consecutive appearance in the title match. With the OVC Tournament moved back to its original outdoor venue for Sunday's match, fans will be able to attend the championship match, weather permitting.
In Saturday's semifinal match against Murray State (8-10, 4-3), the Governors jumped out to an early lead with another strong showing in doubles play. The No. 2 doubles match was the first to go final as Aleks Topalovic and OVC Freshman of the Year Jana Leder won their fourth-straight match.
Needing just one more win to claim the doubles point, Austin Peay's pair of Second-Team All-OVC selections Fabienne Schmidt and Danielle Morris handily won in No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point and give the Govs a 1-0 lead. With the doubles point already decided, Ana Albertson and Honoka Nakanishi trailed, 3-4, in No. 3 doubles, but the match was left unfinished.
With a 1-0 lead to start singles action, Nakanishi wasted no time getting the Governors back on the board and dispatched Gabrielle Geolier in No. 6 singles to win her seventh match of the season. Then it was Schmidt's turn to get the Govs on the scoreboard, as she beat Murray State's Sara Loncarevic in No. 1 singles to give Austin Peay a 3-0 lead.
Needing just one more point to secure a spot in the OVC Championship, Martina Paladini-Jennings brought the match to an end when she beat Anja Loncarevic in No. 5 singles to complete the 4-0 sweep of the Racers.
With the match already won, Morris and Topalovic led in the third sets of the No. 2 and No. 5 singles matches, respectively, but both contests were left unfinished. Leder also led in the second set of the No. 3 singles match, but it was also left unfinished.