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Austin Peay Women’s Tennis’ Tomic and Carre near doubles upset but fall to the Memphis Tigers

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Tennis

Austin Peay State University Lady GovsClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University women’s tennis team dropped its home opener, 7-0, to Memphis, Friday afternoon at the Governors Indoor Tennis Center.

It was the second consecutive match in which head coach Malik Tabet pitted his young team against an experienced, highly-regarded opponent and Tabet remains adamant that results are not indicative of how the Lady Govs performed.

APSU Women's Tennis. (Photo Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)
APSU Women's Tennis. (Photo Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)

“Memphis and Vanderbilt are two of the best programs in the country,” Tabet said. “Once we get deeper in the season, those two teams will rise to the top. It was a good experience for our team and I believe it will give us some confidence. We played very well.”

The doubles competition was a roller coaster as the Lady Govs No. 1 tandem of senior Vanja Tomic and freshman Alison Carre drew out several match points in falling 8-7. Memphis’ top team of Alyssa Hibberd and Tiffany Welcher entered the match ranked 41st nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Alison CarreIn fact, Memphis’ top three singles players are each individually ranked by the ITA, providing a challenging matches across the board. Tomic took No. 60 Courtney Collins into a super tiebreaker at No. 1 singles, while Carre – at No. 2 singles – fell for the second time this season to a ranked opponent – No. 51 Stefanie Mikesz.

Freshmen Ornella Di Salvo, Weronika Kurka and Vanessa Tavarez, along with sophomore Andra Cornea filled  out the bottom of the lineup.

Vanja Tomic“To have three players nationally ranked tells you the prestige of this program right now,” Tabet said of the Tigers. “Vanja played really well at No. 1 and also in doubles. Just the fact that they had a chance to win the doubles gives Vanja and Alison a huge boost.

“Right now, we just need to play more matches. Once we start to get more matches in, the team will develop nicely. We’ve got the pieces, we’ve just got to figure out how to put them together.

Memphis 7, Austin Peay 0

Singles Competition

1. Courtney Collins (MEM) def. TOMIC, Vanja (APSUW) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2. Stefanie Mikesz (MEM) def. CARRE, Alison (APSUW) 6-3, 6-4
3. Mariya Slupska (MEM) def. Di SALVO, Ornella (APSUW) 6-0, 6-1
4. Tiffany Welcher (MEM) def. KURKA, Weronika (APSUW) 6-0, 6-2
5. Alyssa Hibberd (MEM) def. TAVAREZ, Vanessa (APSUW) 6-1, 6-0
6. Kelly Gray (MEM) def. CORNEA, Andra (APSUW) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles Competition

1. Alyssa Hibberd/Tiffany Welcher (MEM) def. TOMIC, Vanja/CARRE, Alison (APSUW) 8-7
2. Mariya Slupska/Stefanie Mikesz (MEM) def. KURKA, Weronika/Di SALVO, Ornella (APSUW) 8-0
3. Kelly Gray/Courtney Collins (MEM) def. CORNEA, Andra/TAVAREZ, Vanessa (APSUW) 8-0

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