Ohio Valley Conference

 

MEN’S FIRST ROUND SCORES
#4 Jacksonville State 4, #5 Morehead State 0 | Box Score
#3 Eastern Kentucky 4, #6 Murray State 0 | Box Score 

JACKSOVNILLE STATE 4, MOREHEAD STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jacksonville State advanced to the semifinals of the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Tennis Championships after blanking Morehead State, 4-0, in the opening round on Friday morning at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tenn.

The No. 4-seed Gamecocks move on to face top-seeded Tennessee Tech on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Golden Eagles claimed the regular season crown and downed Jax State in the regular season meeting, 5-2.  With the win, JSU moved to 12-12 overall on the season.

JSU opened with the all-important doubles point as it won at No. 1 and 2.  The JSU pairing of Igor Santos and Jordan Cowling ousted the Eagles' duo of Kevin Deligny and Roger White, 8-3, at No. 2.  After MSU posted an 8-6 win on court three, the Gamecocks' top tandem of Axel Sundberg and Nenad Marcec closed out the point with an 8-5 win over Hugo Almonte and Chris Shafik of MSU.

With JSU needing just three more points to clinch the match, it started off strong in singles by claiming the first set in all six matches.  In tournament play, once the match is sealed the other matches are halted.  Cowling, a freshman from Melbourne, Australia, tallied the squad's second point of the contest after he quick worked Almonte at No. 4.  Cowling won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.  Sundberg followed suit with a win at No. 1 over Nathan Martin.  Sundberg posted a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 1 for JSU's third point of the match.  Freshman Felipe Wenzel clinched the match at No. 6, downing Shafik – 6-1, 6-4.  Wenzel, from San Jose, Brazil, won his ninth singles match of the year and has won six of his last nine matches.

EASTERN KENTUCKY 4, MURRAY STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s tennis team defeated Murray State, 4-0, in the opening round of the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference championships Friday morning at the Centennial Sportsplex Tennis Center. EKU will next face No. 2 seed Austin Peay in the semifinals on Saturday.

EKU easily earned the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Seniors Hugo Klientovsky and Carles Pons teamed up for an 8-0 victory at No. 1 doubles.

In singles, Klientovsky (No. 1), senior Philip Janz (No. 3) and senior Parul Verma (No. 4) rolled to straight-set victories in their respective matches.

Austin Peay defeated Eastern Kentucky earlier this season in a very tight 4-3 match.

WOMEN’S FIRST ROUND SCORES
#4 Austin Peay 4, #5 Eastern Illinois 2 | Box Score
#3 Murray State 4, #6 Morehead State 3 | Box Score 

AUSTIN PEAY 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women’s tennis defeated Eastern Illinois, 4-2, Friday, in opening-round action at the Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament.

Freshman Ornella Di Salvo won the deciding match at No. 2 singles, after the Panthers had won singles matches at Nos. 5 and 6. Di Salvo teamed with sophomore Andra Cornea for a win at No. 2 doubles as well, helping Austin Peay win the doubles point to start the match.

The doubles point came down to senior Vanja Tomic and freshman Alison Carre – a pair of first-team All-OVC picks – fending off a late-match rally by Eastern Illinois. The Lady Govs led 5-3, but the Panthers worked back to a 7-6 lead. Tomic and Carre tied it at 7-7 and traded games, leading to a tiebreak which they would win.

Despite watching Eastern Illinois win at Nos. 5 and 6, Austin Peay seemed to have control in singles play. Carre won a quick match at No. 3 singles, while Cornea also won at No. 4 singles. Those wins left only Di Salvo and Tomic on the court playing the top two matches.

Austin Peay advances to face No. 1 seed Eastern Kentucky, 2 p.m., Saturday. The Lady Govs lost 6-1 to the Colonels less than a week ago in Richmond, Ky. EKU won at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles, with Cornea and Di Salvo earning the Lady Govs only doubles win. Tomic will have a chance to avenge her season’s only OVC loss, which came to eventual OVC Freshman of the Year Amandine Faouzi.

MURRAY STATE 4, MOREHEAD STATE 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Murray State defeated Morehead State, 4-3, in the first round of the OVC Tennis Tournament. The Racers will face second-seeded UT Martin on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. 

The Racers earned the doubles points with as Cassidy Cunitz and Ashley Canty earned a win at No 1 doubles and Jordana Klein and Ashley Pierson picked up the victory at No. 3 doubles.

Klein earned the win at No. 3 singles while Carla Suga also won at the No. 2 Singles spot. Pierson won her singles match at No. 6 to give Murray State the win.

The Eagles finished the season with a 11-10 overall mark