Murray State University Athletics
Racers upset by Tennessee-Martin in OVC Championship semifinals
4/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The top-seeded Murray State women's tennis team was upset today by No. 4 Tennessee-Martin 4-3 in the semifinal round of the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament, being played at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenn.
Murray State (18-6) split the singles matches, but lost the doubles point 2-1. The Racers won every doubles match in OVC play during the regular season.
The doubles point came down to No. 3 doubles, where MSU's Casady Pruitt and Jennifer Ward fell to Jeanne De Wet and Gayatri Ramesh 9-8 (7-5 in the tie-breaking game) in the eight-game pro set. Racers Anna Lask and Rachael Lask won at No. 2 doubles over Katrina Domela and Sari Nortje 9-7, but Jaclyn Leeper and Melissa Spencer fell at No. 2 doubles to Ana Bakran and Eleanor Shearman 8-6.
In singles play, where the match was decided, Ward battled Domela at No. 4 singles, the only singles match to go to split sets. Ward lost the first set 7-5, then won the second set 6-4, but Domela was able to fight back to win the third set 6-4.
Spencer won at No. 1 singles over Shearman 6-3, 6-2, while Anna Lask won at No. 3 singles over De Wet 6-2, 6-0, and Rachael Lask won at No. 5 singles over Ramesh 6-4, 6-4. Leeper fell at No. 2 singles to Nortje 6-4, 6-3, while Pruitt lost at No. 6 singles to Bakran 6-3, 6-3.
Spencer's singles win moved her into a tie for sixth on the MSU career combined (singles and doubles) wins list at 166, equaling fellow Georgian Brooke Berryman (1995-99). A win in tomorrow's (Sunday's) final-round match would tie her for fifth with fellow Georgian Martha Zimmer (1994-98).
Murray State will play Tennessee Tech in the final-round match for third place tomorrow at 4 p.m. MSU and Tech were the only to teams to go undefeated in regular-season OVC play, with the Racers going 9-0 and Tech going 5-0.
Tennessee-Martin (TM) 4, Murray State (MU) 3
SINGLES
No. 1: Melissa Spencer (MU) d. Eleanor Shearman 6-3, 6-2.
No. 2: Sari Nortje (TM) d. Jaclyn Leeper 6-4, 6-3.
No. 3: Anna Lask (MU) d. Jeanne De Wet 6-2, 6-0.
No. 4: Katrina Domela (TM) d. Jennifer Ward 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
No. 5: Rachael Lask (MU) d. Gayatri Ramesh 6-4, 6-4.
No. 6: Ana Bakran (TM) d. Casady Pruitt 6-3, 6-3.
DOUBLES
No. 1: Bakran/Shearman (TM) d. Leeper/Spencer 8-6.
No. 2: Anna Lask/Rachael Lask (MU) d. Domela/Nortje 9-7.
No. 3: De Wet/Ramesh (TM) d. Pruitt/Ward 9-8.
