WOMEN'S FIRST ROUND SCORES
#4 Eastern Illinois 4, #5 Southeast Missouri 2
#3 Eastern Kentucky 4, #6 Murray State 2
MEN'S FIRST ROUND SCORES
#4 Belmont 4, #5 Austin Peay 1
#3 Jacksonville State 4, #6 Tennessee State 0
WOMEN'S RECAPS
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Illinois women's tennis team were victorious in their OVC Tournament opening match, downing No. 5 seed Southeast Missouri 4-2 Friday morning. With the victory the Panthers now head to the semi-finals to take on undefeated No. 1 seed SIU Edwardsville Saturday morning.
The Panthers opened tourney play taking the doubles point over SEMO securing wins from the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. The duo of Stella Cliffe and Kelly Iden improved to 11-10 on the year downing Isabella Krupa and Oleksandra Doroshenko 6-2. Emily Pugachevsky and Srishti Slaria won their matchup as well from the No. 3 spot by a score of 6-2.
In singles play, EIU secured the win thanks to straight set victories from Cliffe and Maria Moshteva at the No. 2 and No. 5 spots respectively. Moshteva's win snaps a three-match losing streak for the senior to put her at 10-11 overall for the year.
Iden put the nail in the coffin from the No. 1 spot defeating Krupa 7-5, 7-5 to guarantee the win for EIU with four points allowing the final match to go unfinished.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 4, MURRAY STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky University’s women’s tennis team rolled through singles play on its way to a 4-2 victory over Murray State University in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Friday.
The Colonels will play No. 2 seed Tennessee-Martin in the semifinals on Saturday at the Centennial Sportsplex. The match has been moved to 10 a.m. ET.
EKU (11-10) lost the doubles point, but won four straight singles matches in straight sets to claim the match.
Viktorija Demcenkova got the comeback started with a 6-1 and 7-5 win at No. 2 singles over fellow All-OVC second team selection Claire Chang. It was Demcenkova’s second victory over Chang in the last six days.
Marina Marti knocked off Sara Bjork at No. 6 singles, 7-6 and 6-4, to give Eastern the lead. Sagung Putri Dwinta lost just three games on her way to a 6-1 and 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles.
The Colonels clinched the match when Kristina Lagoda downed Anja Lncarevic, 7-5 and 6-3, at No. 1 singles.
MEN'S RECAPS
BELMONT 4 AUSTIN PEAY 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Using a strong rally in singles play, Belmont Men's Tennis advanced to the Semifinals of the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Championship on Friday afternoon at Centennial Sportsplex. The fourth-seeded Bruins won their battle over in-state rival Austin Peay, the No. 5 seed, 4-1, in a rematch of last year's opening round contest.
More to come.....
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Jacksonville State men's tennis team claimed a 4-0 win over six-seeded Tennessee State in the first round of the OVC Tennis Championships on Friday. JSU took the doubles point and won its first three individual matches to claim the early contest.
The win advanced the Gamecocks to the semifinals round, pinning them against two-seeded Eastern Kentucky. Jaryd Reese, Pablo Caffarena and Mathias Chaim won each of their individual matches in two sets, while Jacksonville State took the doubles points with wins on the second and third courts.