Andrea Jameson
Contributing Writer
On Saturday, March 6, at 1 p.m., the Murray State Women’s Tennis team flourished on the court against the University of Southern Indiana in their first outdoor home game at the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts.
The Murray State Women’s team dominated the court with an exciting 6-1 win.
“Unfortunately, Sharapova got injured so she had to retire on court #1 making the competition win by default,” said Head Coach Jorge Caetano.
Despite senior Stasya Sharapova’s injury, the team found their rhythm to keep competing even under the circumstances of the first doubles match.
The Racers were able to play a home match for the first time. Parents and friends were able to cheer on the tennis team as they led victorious matches.
“It felt really good playing at home for the first time after almost two years of not playing,” Caetano said. “The girls always get really excited when we have a good crowd.”
The doubles matches featured freshman Sarah Bureau and senior Anja Loncarevic sweeping the competition on court #2 with a 6-0 finish along with sophomore Marit Kreugel and senior Sara Loncarevic in court #3 with a 6-0 win as well.
“We won pretty easily and dominated the match,” Caetano said.
Each Racer in the singles match dominated their courts with all sixes across their match scores. Sara Loncarevic competed with scores of 6-4 and 6-0 dominating the court. Kreugel controlled court #2 with scores of 6-0 and 6-3, respectively.
“We found another gear by never letting them get into the match. The fact that we lost a player due to injury never let the girls emotions get in the way,” Caetano said. “We were in control for the whole time and found a way to get wins on every court.”
Bureau and Anja Loncarevic both swept their competitors off their feet with scores of 6-0 and 6-0 winning both matches in Courts #2 and #3.
“This next meet might be tough due to injury meaning we might have to forfeit one match, but also Louisiana Tech is always a really good team so we have a challenge on our hands,” said Caetano.
The Murray State women’s tennis team will be back in action on Monday, March 8, at the Bennie Purcell courts at 12 p.m.
