Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Memphis
Women's Tennis Selected Second in Preseason Poll
2/6/2014 10:18:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Women's Tennis Live Stats at Memphis
In an announcement made Friday, Feb. 7 by the conference, the Murray State women's tennis team has been selected to finish second in the OVC preseason poll. The Racer women finished with 71 total points and one first place vote. Eastern Kentucky is selected to repeat as OVC champions with 80 points and eight first place votes.
The preseason team and individual voting was done by the conference head coaches. MSU also had two individuals selected in the top-10. Senior Carla Suga was selected as the No. 2 player in the conference and junior Andrea Eskauriatza was selected ninth. Suga is the highest ranked individual since Anna Lask was preseason No. 1 overall in 2007. Eskauriatza is the only newcomer to be ranked in the top-10.Â
MSU being selected second is their highest preseason ranking since 2007 when they were also picked second. In 2013, the Racer women were picked fourth in the preseason before entering the OVC tournament as the No. 3 seed.
The Racers are in action this weekend traveling to Memphis for a pair of matches. Friday, the Racers will face the No. 33 ranked Tigers and Saturday they'll face Chattanooga in a neutral site match.
MSU has an all-time record of 27-20 against Memphis, but has lost their last three matches. The Racers last win over the Tigers came in 2007. MSU's last win over Chattanooga also came in 2007. The two teams met for the first time since that match last year, with the Mocs coming out on top. Chattanooga was ranked as highly as No. 67 last season. Â
Complete Preseason OVC Rankings
Predicted Order of Finish
1. Eastern Kentucky (8 first-place votes) - 80
2. Murray State (1 first-place vote) - 71
3. Jacksonville State - 63
4. Eastern Illinois - 52
5. UT Martin - 47
6. Morehead State - 44
7. SIUE - 39
8. Belmont - 37
9. Austin Peay - 33
10. Southeast Missouri - 20
11. Tennessee State – 9
Top Ten Player Rankings
1. Amandine Faouzi, Jr., Mareil Sur Mauldre, France - Eastern Kentucky
2. Carla Suga, Sr., Toronto, Canada - Murray State
3. Kristina Labeja, Jr., Riga, Latvia - Eastern Kentucky
4. Janelle Prisner, Sr., St. Johns, Mich. - Eastern Illinois
5. Monique Krutak, So., Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – SIUE
T6. Raisa Guasti, Sr., Vitoria, Brazil - Jacksonville State
T6. Briar Preston, So., Auckland, New Zealand - Morehead State
8. Ivon Simic, Sr., Lauterbach, Hesse, Germany - UT Martin
9. Andrea Eskauriatza, Jr., Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico - Murray State
10. Ornella Di Salvo, Jr., Argentina - Austin Peay
