Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
A weekend of mixed results for Murray State tennis brought the Racers home with a win against Southern Indiana University and a loss against Ball State University.
The Racers trounced the Screaming Eagles 7-0 on Friday, Feb. 28. The doubles point fell to the Racers after teams of junior Stasya Sharapova/freshman Samantha Muller, seniors Anja/Sara Loncarevic and freshman Marit Kreugel/redshirt junior Sara Bjork dominated in their respective doubles matches.
Singles play yielded similar results as Sharapova, Kreugel, Muller, Bjork and both Loncarevics won their matches in straight sets.
Head Coach Jorge Caetano was thrilled with the shutout over the Screaming Eagles.
“The girls did a great job taking care of business on all the courts,” Caetano said. “They didn’t give the opponents a chance and controlled the action from the very first point.”
The match against the Cardinals was a different story for the Racers, who fell 4-3 in a well-fought battle.
The Racers stayed strong in doubles play and won that point against the Cardinals.
“We finally played a great doubles match again against Ball State,” Caetano said. “We controlled the points on all the courts, and that is what we will need to do in OVC play.”
However, the Racers’ luck in singles didn’t carry over into their match with the Cardinals. Despite wins by Sharapova and Sara Loncarevic, the Racers were unable to clinch the victory.
In spite of the loss, Caetano had great things to say about the Racers’ last match before conference play.
“In singles, we just weren’t consistent enough with our play,” Caetano said. “We also struggled for two or three games in a row and we know we have to fix that for OVC. I’m happy with the fight [and] giving ourselves the chance to win, but [we] just couldn’t finish it.”
After the split over the weekend, the Racers go into OVC play 8-5 overall. Caetano made it clear the Racers are ready to see what the rest of the conference has to offer.
“It was a positive weekend overall and exactly what we needed before OVC play,” Caetano said. “We found our groove in doubles again and I’m very happy with that.”
Caetano and the Racers will spend the first days of March gearing up for a match against Tennessee State University on March 13 at the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts.
