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WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS SCORES
#6 UT Martin 4, #2 Jacksonville State 3
#1 Austin Peay 4, #5 Southeast Missouri 0
UT MARTIN 4, JACKSONVILLE STATE 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin will play for the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference tennis championship trophy after yet another breathtaking win today as the Skyhawks bounced No. 2 seed Jacksonville State by a 4-3 margin in the tournament semifinals.
For the second straight day – and third consecutive UT Martin match – the match boiled down to the final point. Today, it was Andrea Plantada’s turn to play the role of hero, as the Skyhawk senior tallied a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles to break the 3-3 tie and send No. 6 seeded UT Martin to tomorrow’s championship match.
Once again, all six active UT Martin players came away with at least one win on the day. The Skyhawks nabbed the doubles point, earning the first team point of the match after wins at No. 1 and No. 2. Asel Jumamukhambetova/Jemima Potter (No. 1) and Daphne Pratt/Mizuki Sakurai (No. 2) each produced 6-3 wins to ignite UT Martin early.
Jacksonville State (14-4) began singles action with wins at No. 2 and No. 6 to take its first lead of the match. Amelia Campbell continued her fine play of late as she evened the score at 2-2 after a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4.
The Gamecocks once again took the lead after a win at No. 3 singles but that would be the final setback for the Skyhawks. Jumamukhambetova powered her way through a 7-6, 6-4 triumph at No. 1 to set the stage for Plantada’s huge win.
UT Martin (7-11) will play for its seventh OVC tennis championship in school history on Sunday, April 28 as it will take on No. 1 seed Austin Peay. The match will take place at Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville and will begin at 10 a.m. The Skyhawks are 27-7 all-time against the Governors but Austin Peay enters tomorrow’s match with an undefeated 21-0 record as the league’s regular season champion.
AUSTIN PEAY 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's tennis team will play for an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship in the second straight season after shutting out Southeast Missouri, 4-0, Saturday, at Centennial Sportsplex.
The Governors (21-0, 8-0 OVC) knew they were going to get some competition from the Redhawks (12-10, 4-4 OVC) in doubles. The Govs needed a tiebreak win to claim the doubles point in the first meeting.
SEMO won at No. 2 doubles to kick things off, snapping the 11-match winning streak of Lidia and Claudia Yanes Garcia. SEMO looked poised to claim the doubles point, but Honoka Nakanishi and Tatiana Lopez came down from 5-2 to bring it back to 5-5. Over on court No. 3, Fabienne Schmidt and Danielle Morris got a massive break when tied 4-4 and eventually held serve to tie the doubles portion up at 1-1. Nakanishi and Lopez broke their opponents for the second straight game before holding serve to complete the comeback and give the Govs the doubles point and a 1-0 lead. The duo extended their program record win streak to 13 matches with the victory.
The resistance was not at the same level for the Redhawks, who seemed a bit deflated after seeing a possible plan to a historic upset come to a screeching halt. All six Govs singles players won the first set, as it put them in a strong position to reach the title match.
Lidia Yanes Garcia won in straight sets at No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-1) and not even a minute later Morris also prevailed (6-2, 6-0) at the No. 6 spot. With their season on the line, the Redhawks started to fight back. OVC Freshman of the Year Romana Tarajova took a set off Claudia Yanes Garcia, as well as getting early breaks at No. 4 and No. 5 singles.
Lopez went up 3-0 in the second set at No. 3 singles, but her opponent roared back to take the lead, 4-3. In another twist, Lopez broke back to tie the set at 4-4, before holding serve to put the pressure back on her opponent. Lopez won the first two points of the deciding game, with her opponent hitting balls into the net. She eventually earned a double match point and after she challenged an out call by her opponent, the referee awarded her the point which sent the Govs back into the title match tomorrow.
The Govs will take on UT Martin for the OVC Championship, 10 a.m., tomorrow, at Centennial Sportsplex. The No. 6 seeded Skyhawks defeated Jacksonville State in the semifinals. The Govs claimed a 6-1 victory over the Skyhawks in the regular season.
MEN'S SEMIFINAL SCORES
#3 Jacksonville State 4, #2 Belmont 2
#1 Tennessee Tech 4, #5 Eastern Illinois 0
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, BELMONT 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
TENNESSEE TECH 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech tennis team has moved within one victory of history.
The Golden Eagles took care of business with a 4-0 win over Eastern Illinois in the OVC Tournament semifinals to head to the championship match for the fourth consecutive season. Having already captured the last three OVC tourney crowns, Tech will be looking to become the first four-peat winner in the event since a run of eight straight MTSU titles in the early to late 90s.
Tech's triumph in the semifinals over the Panthers (14-15) featured dominance during singles play that saw the Golden Eagles (9-13) not drop a single set throughout the afternoon. Riku Kubota collected a 6-1, 6-0 win over Gertjan De Wilder in the No. 4 spot, while Wenceslao Albin secured a 6-0, 6-3 victory in against Gage Kingsmith in the No. 5 position and Fanis Kontopolous earned a 6-1, 6-2 nod over Logan Charbonneau in the No. 6 slot.
The other three singles battles went unfinished, though Tech lead in each one of them. Rafael Tosetto took home a 6-2 win in the first set against Freddie O'Brien in the No. 1 position, joining fellow freshmen Carlos Vicente and Elias Grubert as TTU's trio at the top to earn a set-one nod. Vicente won 7-6 over Mike Jansen in the No. 2 clash and Grubert claimed a 7-5 victory in the opening set against Daniel Hernandez in the No. 3 battle.
Doubles play was decided in the No. 3 position after the two clubs traded wins in the top two matches. Gonzalo Garcia and Carlos Vicente took down Mike Jansen and Gertjan De Wilder with a 6-2 victory in the No. 1 affair, but the combination of Riku Kubota and Wenceslao Albin fell 7-6 (11-9) to Gage Kingsmith and Daniel Hernandez in the No. 2 tilt.
Squared a 1-1, the TTU rookie tandem of Rafael Tosetto and Lucca Silva pushed the Golden Eagles to the doubles point with a 7-6 (7-4) nod against Freddie O'Brien and Logan Charbonneau in the No. 3 spot.
The Golden Eagles will square off with the winner of No. 2 Belmont and No. 3 Jacksonville State in Sunday's championship match. The title will be on the line at 2 p.m. CT from Nashville's Centennial Sportsplex.