CLARKSVILLE - Austin Peay State University women's tennis team gets its 2018 spring campaign underway with a highly experienced roster and lofty expectations. The team starts with a road contest against Middle Tennessee at 4 p.m., Sunday and then returns to open its home schedule at 1 p.m., Monday against Chattanooga.
The women return a wealth of experience, starting with Lidia Yanes Garcia, the reigning two-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. In addition to her Player of the Year honors, she also won Freshman of the Year in 2016, has been named to the First-Team All-OVC twice and played in the prestigious Oracle ITA Masters this past fall. Claudia Yanes Garcia, her twin sister, also returns to the team and also boasts two First-Team All-OVC selections, along with an 8-1 singles record in the fall and the APSU Invitational individual title she won in September.
The team also returns three other key members, each of whom had winning records in both singles and doubles this past fall. Ana Albertson, Brittney Covington, and Helena Kuppig all return after each had a highly successful fall season. The lone spring debutant for the Governors is freshman Fabienne Schmidt, who not only got her feet wet with the Govs in the fall, but paired with 5th-year senior Covington for a doubles team that reached the final of the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals B Draw.
Assistant Coach Maria Sorbello is thrilled for the start of the upcoming season.
"I'm excited to start the season," said Sorbello. "Our women's team has been working hard over the break. This is Fabi's (Fabienne Schmidt) first season with us, so I'm excited to see how she will add to our team. The women are all on the same page, looking toward winning a conference championship.
"This past fall season the girls had a very successful season, they went 38-14 in singles and 13-5 in doubles. We want to continue this success into the spring. Fall is individual, spring is more team based, so each has a different importance."
After these first two matches, the women have a lot of time in-between to evaluate their performances and work on certain points in practice before returning to the court at Oral Roberts, on Feb. 10.
