Story by Adam Redfern, Contributing writer
A 4-3 loss at Eastern Kentucky Saturday marked the end of Murray State women’s tennis’ 10-game winning streak. With the regular season concluded, Murray State finished with a 14-7 (8-1 OVC) record.
In No. 2 doubles set between junior Amina Hadzic, from Esbjerg, Denmark, and sophomore Anja Loncarevic, from Guilherand-Granges, France. They lost 6-3 to Eastern Kentucky junior Alexandra Belle and sophomore Lisa Friess.
In No. 3 doubles, sophomore Sara Bjork, from Malmo, Sweden, and freshman Stasya Sharapova, from Astana, Kazakhstan, took on seniors Laura Argente and Raquel Montalvo. Bjork and Sharapova lead early, but fell to the seasoned duo of Argente and Montalvo 5-7. This gave Eastern Kentucky took the first point of the match and headed into singles with a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Claire Chang, from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and junior Jeanne Masson, from Dinard, France, started the day off with No. 1 doubles against sophomore Kristina Lagoda and junior Viktorija Demcenkova. The two teams battled for the set, but Eastern Kentucky won the other two doubles sets to claim the doubles’ point and end the match early
Chang faced Argente at No. 1 singles. She controlled the match handily, winning 6-0, 6-1. Sharapova and Lagoda played at No. 2 singles. Sharapova struggled to win a game in the match, losing 0-6, 1-6.
Freshman Aarja Chakraborty, from Gautam Budh Nagar, India, battled Demcenkova at No. 3 singles. The match was close throughout, with Demcenkova winning the first set 6-3, but Chakraborty managed to rally to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-4.
At No. 4 singles, Hadzic looked to continue her 15-game win streak. However, Belle had other plans, winning the set 6-2, 6-2. At No. 5 singles, Anja Loncarevic played a close match with Friess. After losing the first set 3-6, Anja Loncarevic won the next two 7-5, 6-1 to claim the win.
At No. 6 singles, sophomore Sara Loncarevic, from Guilherand-Granges, France, wrapped up the day by facing junior Margaux Lacroix. Sara Loncarevic put up a fight, but lost in straight sets 4-6, 3-6.
Eastern Kentucky announced on April 6 they will be discontinuing the tennis programs because of looming budget trouble. At Eastern Kentucky’s last home match ever, Head Coach Jorge Caetano said the the fans showed up big and had an effect on the tennis match.
“EKU is always strong playing at their place, and since they announced the discontinuation of their programs about two weeks ago,” Caetano said. “We knew it was going to be even tougher, they are going to have a lot of energy. Playing their last home game ever, they brought a lot people in, and we had a crowd of over 100.”
Despite the loss, Caetano said his team remains confident they can take down the Colonels going into the OVC tournament.
“The girls know that we can beat them,” Caetano siad. “They had a little bit a doubt that we could beat them, but after this match its gone. We know that we are as good as them; the girls are ready to play them again.”
With the regular season concluded, Murray State will head into the OVC tournament as the No. 2 seed behind Eastern Kentucky (14-8, 9-0). The Racers will play the winner of Austin Peay and UT Martin around 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 21 in Nashville, Tennessee.