APSU Sports Information
Murray, KY – The latest installment of the Heritage Bank Battle of the Border went to the Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s tennis team, as they defeated rival Murray State on the road, 5-2, Wednesday, at the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts.
The Governors (19-0, 7-0 OVC) clinched a share of the Ohio Valley Conference Regular Season title with their first road win over the Racers (12-8, 6-2 OVC) since the 2009-10 season.
The Govs will clinch the outright regular season title with a Belmont loss at Jacksonville State, Friday. If the Bruins win that match, the Govs will play them for the No. 1 seed and the shot at the outright title.
Doubles were pretty straightforward for the Govs, dominating at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Fabienne Schmidt and Danielle Morris earned a 6-1 win at the No. 3 spot and seconds later Lidia and Claudia Yanes Garcia clinched the doubles point with another 6-1 win. The Yanes Garcia duo has now won 10 straight matches, one behind the active streak of Honoka Nakanishi and Tatiana Lopez, whose doubles contest went unfinished for the second straight match.
The Racers offered more resistance in singles, but Lidia Yanes Garcia and Lopez rolled over their opponents to give the Govs more breathing room. Both won the first set of their matches 6-1, before Yanes Garcia won the second set 6-3 to put the Govs up 2-0. It took an extra game for Lopez, but she closed out her opponent 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 3 spot to put the Govs up 3-0.
The Racers cut the deficit to 3-1 with a straight-set win at No. 1 singles. After losing the first sets at the No. 4-No. 6 spots, the Racers won all three of the second sets. The Govs needed to win only one of the three third sets in those matches and Schmidt, as she did in last year’s OVC Tournament, came up huge. The reigning OVC Freshman of the Year won the deciding set 6-1 at No. 4 singles to give the Govs another massive win.
Helena Kuppig also won in three sets at the No. 5 singles position to extend her singles win streak to 15 matches, now fourth all-time in program history. Her streak trails Lidia’s 16-match streak from last season and Vanja Tomic’s streaks of 17 and 20.
The APSU Govs take on Belmont, 2:00pm, Saturday, at home, where the Govs will honor the Yanes Garcia twins and Kuppig on Senior Day.
Box Score
Austin Peay 5, Murray State 2
Doubles
1. Anja Loncarevic/Stasya Sharapova (MUR) vs. Tatiana Lopez/Honoka Nakanishi (APSU) 3-4, unfinished
2. Claudia Yanes Garcia/Lidia Yanes Garcia (APSU) def. Claire Chang/Jeanne Masson (MUR) 6-1
3. Fabienne Schmidt/Danielle Morris (APSU) def. Amina Hadzic/Sara Loncarevic (MUR) 6-1
Singles
1. Claire Chang (MUR) def. Claudia Yanes Garcia (APSU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Lidia Yanes Garcia (APSU) def. Stasya Sharapova (MUR) 6-1, 6-3
3. Tatiana Lopez (APSU) def. Amina Hadzic (MUR) 6-1, 6-4
4. Fabienne Schmidt (APSU) def. Aarja Chakraborty (MUR) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
5. Helena Kuppig (APSU) def. Anja Loncarevic (MUR) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
6. Sara Loncarevic (MUR) def. Danielle Morris (APSU) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (14-12)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)
