Men's Tennis Set For OVC Championship Tournament

Murray State University's men's tennis team will begin play in the 2006 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Men's Tennis Championship Tournament on Friday when they face Samford University at 10 a.m., at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenn. The Racers are the tournament's sixth seed while the Bulldogs enter as the third seed.

Murray State finished its regular season schedule with a 6-11 record and a 4-5 OVC mark. MSU however lost four matches by a 4-3 score and three more by a 5-2 score. The Racers hope they can turn those close loses into wins.

“We have got to win the doubles point,” said Murray State Head Coach Mel Purcell, seeking his third conference title since taking over the reigns of the program in 1997. “The doubles point is imperative. From the second seed to the sixth the teams are pretty close. So winning the doubles point is the biggest key to advancing to the next round.”

Murray State and Eastern Kentucky University finished in a tie for fifth place, but the Colonels earned the fifth seed as a result of their 4-3 win over the Racers earlier in the season. Tennessee Tech (14-11, 9-0 OVC) is the top seed after going through the conference schedule unbeaten. Jacksonville State (13-8, 8-1 OVC) is the second seed and Tennessee-Martin (9-10, 6-3 OVC) is the fourth seed.

Samford went 12-8 during the spring and 7-2 in league play. In the only meeting of the season between the two squads, the Bulldogs edged the Racers 4-3 in Murray, Ky., on April 7.

The winner of the MSU/Samford match will play second seeded Jacksonville State at 10 a.m., on Saturday.

The Racers have been led by the play of Fadi Zamjaoui and Dmytro Hryhorash. Zamjaoui, a junior from Casablanca, Morocco, posted a 13-4 singles record this spring and went 8-1 against conference opponents, all at number one singles. He has not lost a singles match since March 9. He'll enter the OVC tournament on an 11-match winning streak, 10 of those wins have been in straight sets.

Hryhorash has anchored the number two singles spot. He is 12-5 this season and is also 8-1 against league foes. The junior had 10-match winning streak snapped in the final week of the regular season, but has won 11 of his last 12 singles matches.

Zamjaoui and Hryhorash have also been the team's winningest doubles squad. The two are 9-8 overall and 7-2 in OVC matches, all at number one doubles.

Junior Jeff Lester has played well at the bottom of the line-up. He is 4-1 at number five singles and 10-7 overall.

Murray State University Athletics

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