Clarksville, Tenn. – Junior Lidia Yanes Garcia, of the Austin Peay State University women’s tennis team, has been named the Copies in a Flash APSU Athlete of the Week.
The three-time Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year put the Govs on her back and nearly vaulted the Govs to an OVC Tournament title as Austin Peay advanced to the Tournament championship match for the first time since 2010.
The Spanish sensation dominated at No. 1 singles as she has all year, taking straight-set victories in all three matches to move to 19-2 during the spring season. She secured Austin Peay’s first point of the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win against UT Martin’s Asel Jumamukhambetova, clinched Austin Peay’s semifinal victory against Murray State with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Claire Chang and led a spirited comeback by defeating EKU’s Laura Argente Escamilla, 7-6, 6-1, as Austin Peay roared back from a two-game deficit to force a deciding seventh game in the championship match.
The Copies in a Flash APSU Athlete of the Week is selected by the APSU Sports Information staff each Wednesday during the academic year. Copies in a Flash, of Clarksville, sponsors the award.
Other notable performances by Austin Peay athletes included:
- Junior distance runner Caroline Kiplagat, of the track and field team, placed sixth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Georgia Tech Invitational with an 11:29.32 mark, just off Kendra Kirksey’s 2014 school record. She moved up to fifth in the league standings with that run.
- Sophomore Alex Vegh, of the men’s golf team, secured his first career top-10 finish at the OVC Men’s Golf Championships, firing a 220 (74-72-74) to tie for ninth.
- Senior pitcher Michael Costanzo, of the baseball team, scattered seven hits and just one earned run over a career-long eight innings to stymie one of the nation’s most potent offenses in a 10-4 win against Morehead State in the series opener.
- Junior utility player Morgan Rackel, of the softball team, secured two complete-game victories for the Govs last week, striking out nine against Samford and throwing a two-hitter over eight innings against Belmont. She also racked up four hits, including a home run in the opener against the Bulldogs.
- Sophomore infielder Parker Phillips, of the baseball team, strung together four consecutive two-run games, pounding out eight hits over four contests for the Govs. Included in that were a pair of home runs against Morehead State and a 3-for-5 contest in the finale against the Eagles.
