Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Vanderbilt
Racers Season Comes to Close at NCAA's vs. Vanderbilt
5/9/2014 9:06:00 PM | Women's Tennis
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Murray State's women's tennis team's fantastic season ended Friday at the hands of #10 Vanderbilt. Playing in their first NCAA tournament match since 2007, the Racers were defeated 4-0 in the opening round.
"This was a great experience for our girls," said head coach Olga Elkin. "To play this level of competition will only serve to help us in the future. We battled for every point and I couldn't be any more proud of how they played today and throughout the season." Â
Despite some early morning showers, the teams were able to play on the outdoor counts under overcast skies. The Commodores put the Racers in a hole, grabbing early leads at all three doubles positions. Vanderbilt went on to take the point, winning at first and third doubles, 8-1.
MSU showed some fight over in the singles competition. Andrea Eskauriatza, playing at the top draw, won her opening set 6-3 over 64th ranked Georgina Sellyn. Eskauriatza was mounting a comeback in set number two, trailing 4-2, before the draw went unfinished.
Playing in the number six position, Erin Patton took her opponent, Maggie Leavell, to extra points. Patton fell 7-5 in the first set and was ahead 1-0 before her match also went unfinished.
Verginie Tchakarova also battled at the fifth draw. She fell 6-4 in the opening set and was down 2-1 in the second.
The Commodores did their damage at draws two-four. The Racers won only two games in the three matches.
"When we spoke at the beginning of the season, this is where we said we wanted to be," said Elkin. "We accomplished all of the goals that we set out. We had an incredibly successful season."
The roster will remain largely in tact next season. MSU is graduating one senior, Carla Suga. Suga played four years for the Racers and finished with 68 career singles wins, good for 22nd all-time.
MSU finished the season as OVC regular season and tournament champions. Their 16 wins were the most since 2007. For the second straight season, the Racers had three All-OVC selections – Eskauriatza (First Team), Megan Blue (Second Team) and Eleonore Tchakarova (Second Team). Coach Elkin also won her first ever All-OVC Coach of the Year award.
