Story by Adam Redfern, Staff writer
Murray State’s tennis team extended its win streak to nine-straight with a 7-0 sweep against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Saturday morning.
Saturday’s sweep marks the second-straight match that Murray State has won 7-0 against an OVC opponent. Head Coach Jorge Caetano said he has been impressed by the teams playing recently.
“I am very happy that we are playing are best tennis,” Caetano said. “We’ve won nine in a row. Now we are playing good tennis; it’s good to see that at the end of the season.”
Doubles was first up for the teams. Sophomore Claire Chang, from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and junior Jeanne Masson, from Dinard, France, faced SIUE junior Ann-Christine Link and freshman Raillane Kamdem. Chang and Masson took a 3-1 lead early and won three of the next five games to win 6-3.
Junior Amina Hadzic, from Esbjerg, Denmark, and sophomore Anja Loncarevic, from Guilherand-Granges, France, played SIUE sophomore Lara Tupper and junior Katherine Lahue. Hadzic and Anja Loncarevic were able to control most of the set, winning 6-1.
Sophomore Sara Bjork, from Malmo, Sweden, and freshman Stasya Sharapova, from Astana, Kazakhstan, took on SIUE freshman Anna Talley and freshman Angel Ikeda. Much like the No. 2 doubles, Bjork and Sharapova were able to manage everything their opponents could throw at them, winning 6-1.
Murray State handled its business with the doubles play by winning all three sets to head into singles play with a one-point lead.
In singles, Chang started off slow against Tupper, winning the first set 6-4. However, in the second set Chang dominated to win the set winning 6-0.
Sharapova faced Kamdem and continued her form from last week by beating her opponent 6-2, 6-2.
Freshman Aarja Chakraborty, from Gautam Budh Nagar, India, won her match over Link 6-4, 6-4. Chakraborty had another tough match this weekend, but she was able to pull out another victory.
Hadzic has been playing well of late winning fourteen straight single matches, and this week was more of the same. Hadzic’s singles match was a fast one, with her winning 6-0, 6-0 over Lahue.
Masson matched up against Talley in singles play. Masson was able to manage here opponent handily, winning 6-0, 6-0.
Sophomore Sara Loncarevic, from Guilherand-Granges, France, faced Ikeda and put an exclamation point on today’s match, winning 6-0, 6-0.
Caetano also praised his team’s mental toughness in their run.
“We’ve lost a lot of close matches in the past, but we kinda stopped worrying too much and we are just playing,” Caetano said. “We’ve just focus on the right things, and try to get the next point and the next point. That is the biggest thing, they are adapting really well.”
Murray State will look to win their tenth-straight match when they take on Austin Peay at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, in Clarksville, Tennessee.
