The Murray State tennis team won three matches in three days of tough competition on Oct. 16-18, in the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals in Knoxville, Tennessee at The Goodfriend Tennis Center and The Cedar Bluff Racquet Club.

During last year’s tournament, junior Valeria Chaikovskaia became the first player in Racer program history to advance to the Round of 16. 

The qualifying singles draw began on Thursday, Oct. 16, and players had to win two rounds in order to advance to the main competition. Sophomore Yu Kikawa and junior Yuna Kadowaki both won their first round matches, but fell in the second round. Although freshman Sofia Issakova lost in three sets to her first-round opponent, she managed a three-set win in the consolation round. 

Doubles play kicked off on Friday, Oct. 17, with Kikawa and Kadowaki defeating their Indiana opponents 8-4 and advancing to the round of 34, where they lost 8-7 to ETSU. Issakova and Chaikovskaia lost their lone doubles match 8-3 to MTSU, and Chaikovskaia finished out the weekend with a 6-2, 6-2 loss against Vanderbilt in the round of 64. 

The Racers will continue their fall competition on Friday, Oct. 31 at the Stetson Invitational in DeLand, Florida.