Murray State University Athletics
Eskauriatza Tabbed adidas® OVC Tennis Athlete of the Week
4/1/2014 11:59:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Andrea Eskauriatza has been rewarded for her stellar play in helping to lead the Racers to a 6-0 start in conference play, by being named the adidas® OVC Tennis Athlete of the Week.
Eskauriatza is the first Racer to be named adidas® OVC Tennis Athlete of the Week in 2014, after MSU twice captured the distinction in 2013 with Megan Blue (March 27) and Carla Suga (April 10).
On the week, Eskauriatza helped lead the Racers to a 3-0 record with wins over Austin Peay, SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. MSU has improved to a season-best seven games over .500 with their 11-4 record and are a perfect 6-0 in the OVC for the first time since 2004.
Eskauriatza won all three of her singles matches without much trouble. Playing at the first draw in all three matches, Eskauriatza disposed of all of her opponents in just two sets. Her toughest battle came from SIUE, where she defeated Monique Krutak, 6-3, 7-6. Krutak was selected as the No. 5 overall player in the OVC preseason poll. She also defeated Janelle Prisner of EIU (6-3, 6-3) and Ornella Di Salvo of APSU (6-3, 6-2), who were ranked fourth and tenth respectively in the OVC preseason poll.
Eskauriatza also helped the Racers on the doubles court. She and partner Erin Patton went 3-0 on the week as the Racers took the doubles point in two of their three matches. The pairing defeated the second draws from APSU (8-2) and SIUE (8-0), before stepping up to court one and besting the top pair from EIU, 8-4.
For the season, Eskauriatza is tied for the team lead with 18 overall wins. She has 10 wins in dual matches, and her 10-3 record is good for the second-best percentage (.769) in the OVC.
Her and Patton have the most wins as a pair on the doubles court in the OVC. Their 11-2 record is also the second-best percentage (.846) in the conference.
Eskauriatza and the Racers will face their toughest test of the spring as they travel to Eastern Kentucky to face the 7-0 Colonials. The match to determine first place pits the final two undefeated teams in the conference against one another. First serve is scheduled for 9 a.m. CDT.
