MARTIN-The Austin Peay State University women's tennis team returned to the court Saturday to compete in the final day of Skyhawk Tennis Fall Invitational. The Lady Govs were able to gain a tie against Ohio Valley Conference rivals Southeast Missouri in doubles (1-1) and swept North Alabama in singles (4-0), but lost to SEMO in singles play (3-2) and UT Martin in doubles (3-0).
Against SEMO in the doubles portion of the competition, the duo of freshman Brittney Covington and senior Vanessa Tavares earned a hard fought 8-5 victory against the duo of Mariya Kostyuk and Viviana Ortiz while freshman Hannah Tatlock and senior Jovana Karac dropped an 8-1 decision to the pairing of Kateryna Stoianova and Melissa Martin.
In singles play against the Redhawks, Tatlock cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory past Maria Montenegro while Covington was able to gain a 6-1, 6-2 win against Anna Makhneva. Senior Ornella Di Salvo fell in three sets to Mariya Kostyuk (7-5, 5-7, 10-8) while classmate Karac dropped a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 match to Annisa Warasanti.
Against the host Skyhawks, the duo of Tavares and Covington dropped an 8-6 decision to the team of Hitomi Naito and Burcu Tari while the pairing of Tatlock and Karac lost to Sarah Candeloro and Jessica Silva 8-2. UT Martin was able to gain the sweep with a default victory due to an injury suffered by the Lady Govs.
In singles play against North Alabama, Tavares defeated Sydney Childers 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 1 position while Tatlock claimed a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Morgan Jose at No. 2. At No. 3, Karac won by scores of 6-0, 6-1 against Alexa Knight while Covington shutout Hope Willis at the No. 4 slot 6-0, 6-0.
"I am very pleased with how we competed this weekend," said head coach Ross Brown. "Ornella and Vanessa are really emerging as the leaders that we hoped they would become and you have to be impressed by the way Brittney has played. We hoped she should do well and we are really excited about her play, her effort and her attitude. She swept her singles and to do that in your collegiate debut is extremely impressive"
The Lady Govs will return home to host the 2014 APSU Fall Tournament. The two-day tournament will begin at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 19, at the Austin Peay Tennis Courts.
