Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University men’s tennis team begins its first season as defending Ohio Valley Conference champion when the Govs host Northern Kentucky, 3:00pm, Friday, inside the Austin Peay Tennis Center.
Three-time first-team all-conference honoree Jasmin Ademovic returns for his senior season has to be considered a prime candidate for OVC Player of the Year honors.
Flanking him will be a pair of 2013 all-conference performers in Dimitar Ristovski and Aleksas Tverijonas. Now juniors, both have earned all-conference honors their first two seasons in Clarksville, with Ristovski taking first-team honors for the first time last season after winning a school-record 16 consecutive matches.
“To be good at something you have to have passion for it and enjoy,” said head coach Ross Brown. “I think both our teams, men and women, are enjoying practicing and working out and have a clearly defined goal that’s within reach.”
Junior Iago Seffrin returns for the Govs, as does sophomore Evan Borowski, after being integral parts of last season’s championship team. Aussie-born James Mitchell and Manuel Montenegro, a Spaniard who got his feet wet during the fall season, enter their first dual-meet seasons for Austin Peay.
“I was pleased in the fall,” Brown said. “We had some great doubles results at the ITA Regional. We’ve got to make sure we do the simple things well.”
The Govs defeated the Norse 5-2 in last season’s March 9th match in Highland Heights, taking the doubles point and the top four singles matches. Pushed to a third set after a 6-1, 3-6 opener, Ristovski responded with a 6-4 final set to defeat Christopher Angulo.
The season continues for the Govs when they host Chattanooga in a noon, Saturday, February 1st tilt at the Tennis Center.
