UT Martin def. SIUE 4-3 Box Score
Morehead State def. Eastern Illinois 4-1 Box Score
Both UT Martin and Morehead State won their OVC Tennis Championship first round matches on Thursday in Paducah, Ky, to advance to the semifinals. #5 seed UT Martin defeated #4 seed SIUE, 4-3, while #3 seed Morehead State defeated #6 seed Eastern Illinois, 4-1.
The Skyhawks avenged a 4-3 loss to SIUE earlier this month with a close victory over the Cougars. UT Martin took an early, 1-0, lead taking the doubles point. The No. 1 doubles duo for the Skyhawks of Ivon Simic and Sarah Candeloro defeated SIUE’s tandem of Monique Krutak and Sierra Halverson, 8-4. At No. 2 doubles, Mia Frogner and Kali Donner of SIUE beat Burcu Tari and Hitomi Naito of UT Martin, 8-4. To clinch the doubles point, UT Martin’s Jessica Silva and Katie McCall defeated SIUE’s Lexi Aranda and Haley Ilcewicz, 8-5.
UT Martin and SIUE went back and forth in singles action, with SIUE winning at No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 singles, while UT Martin won at No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6 singles. For SIUE, Lexi Aranda won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1, Mia Frogner won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3, and Haley Ilcewicz won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5. For UT Martin, Burcu Tari won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 and Katie McCall won 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 6. The match then came down to No. 2 singles where UT Martin’s Hitomi Naito defeated SIUE’s Monique Krutak, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, to seal the match.
Morehead State took two out of three doubles from Eastern Illinois to go up 1-0. At No. 1 doubles, the Morehead State team of Briar Preston and Alex Tachovsky defeated Eastern Illinois’ Janelle Prisner and Sephora Boulbahaiem, 8-2. Ali Foster and Hannah Kimbrough of Eastern Illinois beat Dominique McLean and Sandrine Beaule of Morehead State, 8-0. To take the doubles point, the Eagles’ duo of Hayley Wild and Andrea LeBlanc defeated the Panthers’ Kelly Iden and Kamile Stadalninkaite, 8-5.
In singles play, Morehead State took three out of the four completed matches to clinch the match. Morehead State’s Briar Preston defeated Eastern Illinois’ Janelle Prisner, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 1 position. Finishing out the lineup at No. 6, Morehead State’s Hayley Wild defeated Eastern Illinois’ Maria Moshteva, 6-0, 6-0. The Eagles’ Andrea LeBlanc defeated Kelly Iden of Eastern Illinois, 6-4, 7-6 (4), at No. 2 to take the first round match and advance to the semifinals. The lone Eastern Illinois win came at No. 5 singles, as Hannah Kimbrough beat Sandrine Beaule, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
In the semifinals, UT Martin will take on #1 seed Murray State while Morehead State will face #2 seed Eastern Kentucky. The OVC Women’s Tennis Championship semifinals will start tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. CST at the Larry J. Heflin Tennis Center in Paducah, Ky.