Murray State University's women's tennis team begins its quest for the program's sixth conference title on Friday when the third seeded Racers face sixth seeded Jacksonville State University in the first round of the 2006 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship Tournament at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenn. MSU and the Gamecocks will play at 2 p.m.
Murray State finished the regular season with a 12-9 record and an 8-2 mark in the OVC. The Racers finished in a tie for second place with Samford and Tennessee Tech University. Samford won the tiebreaker and was seeded second, MSU is the third seed and TTU is in the fourth spot.
Jacksonville State went 5-16 this spring and 4-6 in the OVC. The Gamecocks finished in a sixth place tie with Morehead State and Southeast Missouri but won the tiebreaker to take the final spot in the tournament.
“The team is really focused going into the tournament, they got together and have talked about everyone showing up to play every match,” said MSU Head Coach Connie Keasling. “The goal is simple, play as hard as you can.”
The winner of the MSU/JSU match will face second seeded Samford at 2 p.m., on Saturday.
The Racers claimed a 5-2 victory over Jacksonville State on April 8, in the only meeting of the season between the two schools. MSU beat Samford, 4-3, on April 7. Murray State's two conference losses came to regular season champion Tennessee-Martin (14-2, 10-0 OVC) and Tennessee Tech (11-7, 8-2 OVC). The Racers would only face one of those teams in the finals on Sunday.
Murray State won OVC titles in 1984, 1987, 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 29 conference tournaments, the Racers have finished in the top three 23 times. The program's lowest finish ever is fifth, which occurred just one time.
This year's Racers have been led by the play of twin sisters Anna and Rachael Lask (Louisville, Ky.). Anna Lask is 17-3 in singles matches this spring, all at number one singles. The junior is 9-1 against OVC opponents.
Rachael Lask posted a 16-4 record in singles play, including a 15-2 mark at number two singles. She went a perfect 10-0 against conference opponents and enters the OVC tournament on an 11 match winning streak.
The two sisters teamed for a 14-3 record in doubles play, all at number one doubles. The duo went 8-1 in doubles matches against OVC teams.
Junior Casady Pruitt (Merrillville, Ind.) is 11-9 in singles matches, including nine wins at number three singles. Tami McQueen (Menlo Park, South Africa) has anchored the bottom of the line-up. The team's only senior is 11-10 overall and 10-8 at number six singles.
The team's two freshmen turned in impressive seasons. Adriana Alvarez (Durango, Mexico) posted 10 wins this season, nine of which came at number five singles. Anne Pennington (Indianapolis, Ind.) won nine matches in her first collegiate season and is 8-5 at number four singles.
The strength of this Murray State squad is its doubles play. The Racers have won the doubles point in 15 of 20 opportunities and nine times in 10 Ohio Valley Conference matches. In addition to Anna and Rachael Lask's 14-3 doubles record, Pennington and Pruitt have teamed for a 13-6 mark. The tandem of Alvarez and McQueen won nine doubles matches.
In OVC play Pennington and Pruitt went 9-1 in doubles matches and Alvarez and McQueen posted a 6-4 record against league opponents.
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