APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s tennis team aims to finish the regular season unbeaten and win the outright Ohio Valley Conference Regular Season title by hosting Belmont, 2:00pm, Saturday, April 20th.
The Governors (19-0, 7-0 OVC) clinched a share of the OVC Regular Season title with their 5-2 win over Murray State on Wednesday.
It was the first win on the road over the Racers since 2010 and their second straight win after last season’s victory in the OVC Semifinals.
The Govs can clinch the No. 1 seed in the OVC Tournament with a Belmont loss to Jacksonville State on Friday. If Belmont were to win the match against Jacksonville State, the Govs would need to beat Belmont to earn the No. 1 seed. No matter the result of that match, the Govs must defeat the Bruins (12-6, 5-1 OVC) to claim the outright regular season title.
Claudia Yanes Garcia and Lidia Yanes Garcia won their 10th straight doubles match against Murray State, triumphing 6-1 at the No. 2 spot. The streak is second all-time only to Honoka Nakanishi and Tatiana Lopez, who maintain their 11-match win streak despite having their doubles contest go unfinished for the third straight match.
In singles, Helena Kuppig broke a tie with Claudia for the fourth-longest win streak of all-time. Kuppig won her 15th straight match, only trailing Lidia’s streak of 16 last season and Vanja Tomic’s streaks of 17 and 20 set around a decade ago.
About the Belmont Bruins
The Bruins are the hottest team in the league, bar the Govs. Winners of their last five matches, the Bruins dropped their only OVC match to Murray State almost a month ago. The Bruins dropped a non-conference match to Chattanooga, who the Govs defeated, but also defeated IUPUI, Central Arkansas, and Dayton in non-league play.
The Bruins sport three players on singles win streaks of at least four matches (Erin Allen, Maria Plaksina, and Terra Sheldon). In addition, the doubles team of Plaksina and Sheldon is an impressive 11-1 in dual match play this spring, including a 9-1 mark at the No. 3 spot.
The Govs have won seven of the last eight matches against the Bruins, including a 4-3 win last season. The win featured Claudia playing left-handed due to injury and a Govs comeback win after being down 2-0. Brittney Covington sealed the win with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 three-set victory.
The Govs will honor Kuppig and the Yanes Garcia twins on Senior Day, which will take place directly after the conclusion of the men’s match.
