APSU Women’s Tennis
Clarksville, TN – Ohio Valley Conference play continues for Austin Peay State University women’s tennis team when its the road for a pair of league matches this weekend, beginning with a 10:00am, Friday match at Eastern Kentucky, followed by a 10:00am, Saturday match at Morehead State.
As the defending OVC champions, the pressure is on the Lady Govs, especially with returning OVC Player of the Year Vanja Tomic and Freshman of the Year Carolin Weikard holding down the top two spots. However, injuries have taken their toll on the Lady Govs, leaving the team without a No. 6 player and no No. 3 doubles team.
Tomic has been solid at the top, posting an 8-2 overall record at No. 1, while Weikard has seen some struggles at No. 2. The bottom three spots consist of freshman Andra Cornea, Kimberly Loo and Rachel Margolies.
“All we ask of our players is that they put their contribution into the team and we’ll see what we get at the end of the day,” Tabet said. “Everybody has to play hard, and that’s what you want. Every player has to focus on what’s happening on their court and they have to rely on each other a little more.”
Austin Peay is coming off a spring break trip that allowed the team time for outdoor training as well as matches against South Alabama and Division II powerhouse BYU Hawaii. The Lady Govs lost both matches, including a 4-3 loss against South Alabama.
OVC action has seen the Lady Govs win twice on the road at Tennessee State and at Southeast Missouri. However, this weekend’s matches pit Austin Peay against an Eastern Kentucky team picked to finish third. In fact, the last meeting between APSU and EKU resulted in the Lady Govs winning the 2010 OVC Tournament.
“It’s crunch time,” Tabet said. “This is what we’ve trained for and we know it’s going to be difficult. It’s a shame that we have play this match so early, it would’ve been better to culminate with this matchup. Hopefully, we’ll be able to compete well and possibly send a message to the rest of the conference.”
Eastern Kentucky boasts a 7-2 home record, but stands winless in road matches. In fact, the Lady Colonels have played five of their last six on the road, but picked up a home win against Duquesne during that stretch. Senior Anouk Favre, who was a preseason top-10 selection, is 7-6 during the dual season, playing the majority of her matches at No. 5 singles. EKU has been inconsistent in doubles as well, using a variety of pairings for an 18-24 dual record.
Morehead State is the Lady Govs Saturday opponent. The Eagles’ season has been a tale of two halves. After opening 0-6, they’ve settled into a comfortable home slate and have won five-straight matches. Alix Young, who has a 4-9 record at No. 1 singles, was Morehead State’s only preseason top-10 pick.
