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HomeSportsAustin Peay State University Men's Tennis begins OVC Season this Weekend

Austin Peay State University Men’s Tennis begins OVC Season this Weekend

APSU Sports Information

APSU Men's TennisClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University men’s tennis team looks to put its early season woes behind them as they host a pair of matches to open Ohio Valley Conference play, starting at 2:00pm, Friday, against Tennessee State and turning around quickly to host Belmont, 2:00pm, Saturday.

Austin Peay Men's Tennis faces Tennessee State and Belmont this weekend. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men’s Tennis faces Tennessee State and Belmont this weekend. (APSU Sports Information)

The Govs (1-11) have had a rough start to the season, but have shown they can be competitive. The Govs have taken a lot of individual singles matches to three sets, but have not been able to win the last set consistently, as they are 5-11 in matches that go the distance.

Austin Peay has gotten good performances from Almantas Ozelis and Evan Bottorff as of late. Both come into the weekend riding win streaks in singles and were the only two Govs to win singles matches against IUPUI in Austin Peay’s last outing.

Ozelis and his longtime partner Aleh Drobysh won at No. 1 doubles their last time out and the somewhat new pairing of Timo Kiesslich and Chad Woodham also collected a win at No. 3 doubles.

Opponent Spotlight

Tennessee State
Tennessee State (9-6) is off to a good start to its season, but has lost 7-0 to each of the three common opponents they share with the Govs (Detroit Mercy, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee). The Govs are also a perfect 14-0 in dual matches against the Tigers since 2003, with the Tigers gaining no more than one point in any of those matches.

In addition, Ozelis has a perfect career record against Tiger opponents in both singles and doubles.

Belmont
The Bruins (5-10) are trending in the wrong direction as of late, losing six of their past seven matches. Belmont defeated the Govs twice last season, once in OVC regular season play and the other in the OVC Tournament, but the Govs have won the past four home meetings between the two schools. The lone Gov to play a Belmont opponent in the fall was Kiesslich, as he fell to Jake Briggs in straight sets.

However, Ozelis sports an unbeaten record against the Bruins in singles, most recently winning last spring in straight sets.

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