APSU Men’s Tennis
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University men’s tennis locked up a 5-2 Ohio Valley Conference win, Thursday, against Tennessee Tech at the Austin Peay Tennis Courts.
While the sunshine made brief appearances during an otherwise gloomy day, the Govs were zoned in on all aspects. There were times when Tennessee Tech looked to get some footing, but Austin Peay managed to slam the door on every opportunity.
Austin Peay won the top two doubles matches to take the point. TTU’s Alex Chen and Murilo Oliviera won at No. 3 doubles, but within minutes of each of other the Govs had 8-5 wins at Nos. 1 and 2. Sophomores Henrique Norbiato and Sean Bailey played a terrific match at No. 1, while freshmen Jasmin Ademovic and Remi Calleja had to hang on at No. 2.
In singles action, Calleja made quick work of Oliviera at No. 5 to give the Govs two points. After freshman Joao Pagan fell at No. 4 and sophomore John Storie lost at No. 6, the Golden Eagles had evened the match.
Norbiato finished off Chen in straight sets to reignite the Govs. It was the second-straight win for Norbiato at the top seed after taking the position, last week, at Middle Tennessee. Ademovic, playing on the court beside Norbiato, fed off the Brazilian and polished off TTU’s Josh Girling for the win at No. 2.
Bailey, meanwhile, had a quick first set, but TTU’s Justin Kirstein was a pest in the second. In fact, at one point, Kirstein led 4-2 but Bailey was able to regroup and capture his third-straight OVC win.
“Henrique and Jasmin are both playing well right now,” Tabet said. “I still would like to get John and Joao going to round out the lineup for us. We need those wins at the bottom just as much. We still have two more tough matches coming up so we have to stay ready.”
Austin Peay returns to action with back-to-back matches, Saturday against Eastern Illinois and Sunday at Murray State.
