Story by Adam Redfern, contributing writer
The Racers faced off against Eastern Illinois University Friday morning and won 7-0, extending their current win streak to eight.
Murray State improved to 6-0 in the OVC. Head Coach Jorge Caetano said despite winning 7-0, Eastern Illinois is a very tough team and commented on how momentum was an important part for today’s match.
“We lost to this team 7-0 last year, and even though today was a 7-0 win, we played really tough,” Caetano said. “Winning the doubles point was key today. We got really good energy starting singles, and they went down a little bit so we were able to jump on them, and have a good start on all the singles.”
The match opened Friday morning with doubles play. Sophomore Claire Chang, from Kaohsiung, Taiwan and Junior Jeanne Masson, from Dinard, France, took on Eastern Illinois senior Grace Summers and sophomore Stella Cliffe. Chang and Masson was able to get off to an early start 2-1, but ended up dropping the set 3-6.
Junior Amina Hadzic, from Esbjerg, Denmark, and sophomore Anja Loncarevic, from Guilherand-Granges, France, played against freshman Karla Contreras and sophomore Emily Pugachevsky. Hadzic and Anja Loncarevic took an early 4-1 lead, and fended off their opponents to escape with a 6-2 victory.
Sophomore Sara Bjork, from Malmo, Sweden, and freshman Stasya Sharapova, from Astana, Kazakhstan, faced freshman Claire Martin and junior Srishti Slaria. Bjork and Sharapova worked to a 4-3 lead, and finished with a 7-5 victory over Martin and Slaria.
With the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles wins the Racers were able to secure the doubles point and headed into singles with a 1-0 lead in the match.
In singles play, Murray State swept Eastern Illinois University 6-0.Chang won a hard-fought victory over Cliffe 6-4, 6-3. Chang was down for most of the first set, but managed to pull ahead 6-4 after being down 3-4. The second set Chang took a 3-2 lead and didn’t look back, winning 6-3.
Sharapova won her match 6-0, 6-2 over Summers. Sharapova controlled both of the singles sets. Sharapova took early leads in both sets, and used the momentum to finish her opponent handily.
Freshman Aarja Chakraborty, from Gautam Budh Nagar, India, won her match over Srishti 6-0, 6-4. Chakraborty owned the the first set, but had to make a comeback in the second set in order to clinch the straight-set victory (trailed 4-1).
Hadzic’s match was a battle with Pugachevsky that ended 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. The first set Hadzic fell behind Pugachevsky 3-4, but won the next three of the five games to make it 6-6. Hadzic won the tiebreaker 7-4. The second set was just as much of a battle as the first. Hadzic was behind 3-4, but won the next three games to win 6-4.
Anja Loncarevic played against Contreras and won 6-0, 6-2. Anja Loncarevic managed the first set, not allowing Contreras to win a game. The second set spelled more of the same, with Anja Loncarevic winning 6-2.
Sophomore Sara Loncarevic, from Guilherand-Granges, France, faced Martin and won 6-4, 6-2. Sara Loncarevic jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but dropped three of the next five games to win 6-4. Sara Loncarevic played better in the second set to win 6-2.
Last time the Racers went on an eight game win streak they went on to win the OVC tournament. Caetano said that the upcoming stretch is really important if they want to repeat the same results.
“Yeah, this is going to be really, really big” Caetano said, “Every year is different, you know. We are playing really good, I think. The most important thing is even when we are not playing good, we are still finding a way to win matches.”
Murray State will take the court with a chance to win its ninth-straight match when it takes on Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 7, in Paducah, Kentucky.
