CLARKSVILLE – With the regular season behind it, Austin Peay State University men's tennis team prepares for a 2 p.m., Saturday match against Eastern Illinois in the First Round of the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Tennis Championship's at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana.
Austin Peay (5-9, 1-3 OVC) has made the OVC Tournament each season under 10th-year head coach, Ross Brown, and enters the postseason as the No. 4 seed for the third-straight season.
The Governors look to claim their first OVC title since 2013, Brown's first season at the helm of the program.
The Govs are led by First Team All-OVC selection Frederic Schlossmann, who has had a career year as a sophomore.
The Regensburg, Germany native has won five singles matches while exclusively playing the No. 1 position and was named to the Men's Doubles All-OVC Team alongside senior counterpart, Anton Damberg.
A three-time OVC Men's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week selection, Schlossmann and Damberg lead APSU with eight singles from the No. 1 position and finished perfect in conference play at 3-0.
Schlossmann and Damberg are the first APSU pairing to finish unbeaten in OVC play with at least three wins since Ozelis and Aleh Drobysh in 2018.
Damberg also had a career year, posting a team-best six singles wins, while playing most of the season on the No. 3 court. He received his first-career OVC Men's Tennis Player of the Week ward, Feb. 15.
Senior Oliver Andersson and Tom Bolton are tied for the third-most singles wins this spring with four, while Giovanni Becchis has earned a trio of wins during his freshman campaign.
The March 29 Men's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week, Becchis and Bolton are second among Govs' tandems with five wins, while Andersson and freshman Hogan Stoker have picked up four.
The Govs defeated Eastern Illinoi 6-1, April 9, for their first conference win of the season and are 20-11 all-time against the Panthers in an all-time series dating back to 1997.
In their match against EIU, the Govs look for their first postseason win since a 4-0 victory against Tennessee Tech in the semifinals of the 2015 OVC Championship.
The winner of Friday's match advances to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament to face the 2022 OVC Regular Season Champions in Belmont.
Scouting the Panthers
2022 Record: 3-21 (0-4 OVC)
Notable Players: Cristos Kyrillou and Thoams Wallace. The duo leads Eastern Illinois with 10 doubles wins and have won three OVC Men's Tennis Doubles Teams of the Week awards. The duo was also one of four OVC tandems named to the Men's Doubles All-OVC team.
2021 Record: 4-14 (1-4 OVC)
2021 Season Result: After finishing fifth in the OVC last season, one match behind the Governors, Eastern Illinois missed the OVC Championship and had their season come to an end following a 6-1 loss against Chicago State, April 16.
Returners/Newcomers: 9/2
All-Time Series (Since 1997): 20-11 APSU
APSU vs. EIU in the postseason: 3-2 EIU
Last Meeting: The Governors defeated Eastern Illinois, 6-1, claiming their first OVC win of the season, April 9. After splitting the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches, Andersson and Stoker won 7-3 in the tiebreaker from the No. 3 court to win APSU the doubles point. The Governors won on each of their top top five singles positions to pick up their fifth win of the season.
Scouting the Field
No. 1 Belmont (13-4, 4-0 OVC): Belmont defeated Tennessee Tech, 5-2, Saturday to claim its fourth OVC Regular Season Championship and clinch the No. 1 seed in the OVC Men's Tennis Championship.
In singles, the Bruins are led by Tomas Luis, who has captured a team-best 11 matches while playing most of the season on the No. 2 position.
The Bruins have been led by their strong doubles play throughout the season. Jack Randall and Arthur Toledo lead BY with a 10-3 record from the No. 2 position, while Taisei Miyamoto and Alfred Walling are 8-3 from the No. 3 court this spring.
Belmont has won four OVC Player's of the week awards, led by Ian Cruz's two; and have had a pair tabbed as the Men's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week four times, with Luis and Castro receiving the honor twice.
Belmont plays the winner of APSU and EIU's match.
No. 2 Tennessee Tech (6-12, 3-1 OVC): The Golden Eagles enter the OVC Men's Tennis Championship as the No. 2 seed after falling to Belmont in their regular season finale. After beginning their season 1-7, TTU finished its 2022 campaign winning six of its final nine matches.
Mika Berghaus has won a team-best seven singles matches from the No. 2 position, while he and Elias Grubert lead the team with five doubles victories from the No. 1 and No. 2 position. The pair was named the OVC Men's Tennis Doubles Team of the week, March 8.
Tennessee Tech plays Tennessee State in their first match of the OVC Championship.
No. 3 Tennessee State (6-19, 1-2 OVC): Tennessee State defeated Austin Peay in its regular season finale to secure the No. 3 seed in the OVC Men's Tennis Championship.
After dropping 11 of its first 15 matches, the Tigers won three of four matches to close out their 2022 regular season, with their one loss in that span being to No. 35 Memphis.
Tennessee State plays Tennessee Tech in their first match of the OVC Championship.
Follow the Govs on Social
For news and updates ahead of the Govs' stay in Evansville, follow the men's tennis team on Twitter (@GovsMTN), Instagram and Facebook (Austin Peay Tennis).
