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The Ohio Valley Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Championship begins today at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville, Ind.
The women will get things started with the first round at 10 a.m. CT with fourth-seeded SIUE facing No. 5 Murray State and No. 3 Belmont will play No. 6 UT Martin.
The men's first round will follow at 2 p.m. CT with No. 4 Austin Peay playing No. 5 Eastern Illinois.
Women's Recaps
#5 MURRAY STATE 4, #4 SIUE 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Murray State tennis won their Ohio Valley Conference quarterfinals matchup over SIUE 4-1 on Friday morning in Evansville, Indiana. The win is the Racers first in the OVC tournament since 2015 when they won the tournament championship before falling to Vanderbilt in the NCAA regionals.
After falling to the Cougars 7-0 on April 9, MSU was able to flip the script and secure their spot in the OVC semifinals. The Racers took the early lead, winning the doubles point after Stasya Sharapova and Natalie Slezakova won their flight and Sarah Bureau and Annika Pschorr securing the doubles point in the victory of their matchup.
SIUE would take the first singles point of the day before Sharapova continued the momentum for Murray State, winning the top flight of singles play to give the Racers a 2-1 lead. Pschorr would secure the Racers third point after winning her matchup in straight sets, leaving the Racers just one point from victory. Bureau would secure the final point of the day for MSU after defeating OVC Co-Player of the Year Jill Lambrechts in three sets.
The Racers now play in the OVC semifinals on Saturday at 10 am against the top-seeded Austin Peay Governors. MSU and Austin Peay squared off in the last regular-season game of the year with Murray State winning 4-3.
#3 BELMONT 4, #6 UT MARTIN 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Belmont University women's tennis team advanced to the OVC Semifinals for the first time since 2013 after they beat the UT Martin Skyhawks, 4-1, Friday from Wesselman Tennis Center.
The Bruins did not get started on the right note. After Gina Feistel and Lauren Carelli won on court one of doubles play, the Skyhawks won on courts three and court two to take their lone point.
Once singles started, the team attacked UTM. Behind a flurry of aggressive crosses and time-shifting hits, Belmont turned the tide quickly on UTM.
Up first, Belmont's reining Co-OVC player and freshman of the year. Feistel stayed aggressive in her two 6-3 set wins against Jules Streif. The All-OVC first team honoree's power was too much to handle as she kept the velocity and pace on full speed.
After Feistel, senior Peyton Lee kept her recent switch back to form in full focus. As quick as a hiccup, Lee found the finish line for the third time in her last four matches against Aziza Aubin on court five: 6-2, 6-1.
Back on court two, 2021 All-OVC first team talent Somer Henry wore down Sina Albersmeier and made her miss her mark on counters hits. After winning set one, Henry handled Albersmeier with diligent slices and dices to take the match: 6-1, 6-2. Like Lee, it was Henry's third win in her last four matches.
Finally, freshman phenom Nastya Zholdakova was powered up in her eighth match on court three this spring. After some resistance up 5-2 in set two from Amelia Campbell, Zholdakova charged up to the net and deflected the ball back to Campbell. Campbell hit the ball wide and Zholdakova let out all her emotional energy as her teammates swarmed her with match point in Belmont's hands.
The win means the Bruins will face #2 Southeast Missouri State tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. This is the second time the programs will play each other this month. Last time on April 9 in Nashville, SEMO beat Belmont 6-1. The lone point for BU belonged to Feistel after she defeated the 2021 OVC player of the year Romana Tarajova in three sets.
Men's Recaps
#5 EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, #4 AUSTIN PEAY 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Eastern Illinois men’s tennis made its first appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament since the 2019 season count on Friday afternoon as the Panthers picked up a 4-2 win over Austin Peay to open play at the 2022 OVC Tournament played at the Wesselman Tennis Center.
EIU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match winning the doubles point. The Governors won the first doubles match at No. 3 before EIU evened play with a 6-4 win by Cameron Slabbert and Charles Courteau at No. 2 doubles.
Christos Kyrillou and Thomas Wallace then clinched the first point with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles. It was the tenth doubles win this season for the pair at No. 1 doubles. Earlier this week they were named one of the All-OVC doubles teams.
Kyrillou, Wallace and Slabbert would all then play pivotal roles in singles action for the Panthers.
After APSU knotted the match at 1-1 with a win at No. 1 singles, Kyrillou picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles to put the Panthers back up in the match at 2-1.
Wallace moved in to play at No. 6 singles and collected a 6-2, 6-1 win to bring the Panthers within one point of the win.
APSU won at No. 4 singles to cut the advantage to 3-2 before Slabbert slammed the door for the win at No. 3 singles. Slabbert won 6-4, 7-5 to clinch the overall match for EIU.
Pau Riera played at No. 5 singles for EIU and had his match left unfinished at 4-6, 6-3 headed to a third set.
EIU will face No. 1 seed Belmont on Saturday at 2 p.m.