Story by Cory Sharber, contributing writer
Murray State’s women’s tennis team kicked off the new year with victories at Troy University last weekend.
The Spring Kick-Off, hosted by Troy University, took place in Troy, Alabama, from Jan. 13 to 15 due to the winter storms that took place over the weekend. Louisiana Tech and Central Arkansas were among other competitors in the event.
Sophomore Claire Chang, from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, emerged as the Flight 1 singles champion, winning in two sets against all of her opponents. She defeated Louisiana Tech junior Sonia Chen 6-3, 6-0 and senior Sanae Ohta of Troy University 7-5, 6-4.
Head Coach Jorge Caetano noted that Chang’s effort in her training had a positive impact on her match performance.
“I am not surprised with Claire’s performance since she has worked really hard during our Christmas break both on the court playing tennis and off the court with strength and conditioning, so I think that played a major role in her favor this weekend,” Caetano said.
Freshman Aarja Chakraborty, from Gautam Budh Nagar, India, obtained multiple victories in her first performance after being sidelined with a stress fracture in her foot during the fall season. She defeated Louisiana Tech freshman Paulina Cota 6-2 in both sets and freshman Matea Mihaljevic 1-6, 6-2 and 10-6 in the tiebreaker.
Caetano said he was pleased with her performance in her first match since September
“Aarja did a great job and played very well taking into consideration the fact that her last match was in early September and she was not 100% then,” Caetano said. “She was only two points away from going undefeated and winning her flight so I am very happy with the way she played. She will only get better and I can’t wait to see her competing in our dual matches.”
Other notable singles victories included junior Jeanne Masson, from Dinard, France, who picked up a singles victory against Louisiana Tech freshman Andrea Perez-Lopez in a 7-5, 6-0 effort.
Freshman Stasya Sharapova, from Astana, Kazakhstan, defeated Central Arkansas junior Xylia Chunan Xiang 7-5, 5-7 and 10-7 in a tiebreaker. Sophomore Sara Loncarevic was victorious against Central Arkansas junior Marli Van Heerden 6-4, 6-1. Junior Amina Hadzic, from Esbjerg, Denmark, picked up a victory due to her opponent’s injury.
In doubles, the team of Chang and junior Amina Hadzic defeated junior Sonia Chen and freshman Karla De La Luz Montalvo 6-4 in their match. Masson and sophomore Sara Bjork from Malmo, Sweden secured a doubles victory due to injury.
The Racers will take on Middle Tennessee at 3 p.m. on Jan. 20 at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro, Tennessee which Caetano is looking forward to.
“We had a great Fall season and all the girls worked really hard over the break so I am extremely confident that we are going to do great this weekend at MTSU,” said Caetano. “They have a very good team and we are going to work very hard these next few days to be ready for this next challenge.”
The Kick-Off gave the team a preview of what’s to come regarding the Racers Caetano said and he also mentioned how excited he was to embark on the spring campaign.
“This kick-off weekend was great for us to see that we can compete against any team if we have the right mentality going to the match and the girls already showed how much their confidence have grown,” said Caetano. “We are going to keep working hard so we can play our best tennis in March and April and now our main focus is on winning as many matches as possible so we can continue to get more and more confident as a team.”