CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University women's tennis team wraps up ASUN Conference play with back-to-back road matches, Thursday and Saturday. The Governors begin their two-match road trip with an 11 a.m., Thursday match against Central Arkansas at the UCA Tennis Courts in Conway Arkansas before then facing Jacksonville State at 1 p.m., Saturday at the JSU Tennis Courts in Jacksonville Alabama.
Austin Peay (13-5, 4-2 ASUN) currently sits in a tie for fourth in the ASUN Conference after splitting a pair of matches last week against Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast.
The Govs earned a 4-3 win against the previously undefeated Hatters, before dropping just their second match since mid-February in a 4-3 decision to No. 75 Florida Gulf Coast, Sunday.
Freshman Sophia Baranov leads APSU in singles this spring with a 15-2 record, including a 5-1 mark in ASUN play. The Almaty, Kazakhstan native had a 15-match winning streak come to an end following a three-set match against FGCU. The streak is the longest by a freshman in program history and top 10 by any student-athlete in program history.
Jana Leder and Melody Hefti are second on the team with 14 singles wins this season. Leder is 10-3 from the top position this season and 4-2 in Conference action, while Hefti is 13-3 from the No. 3 singels court and garners a 5-1 mark in ASUN play.
Leder and Hefti also pace the Govs' doubles units with a 13-4 record while exclusively playing the No. 1 position. The dup has won a team-best three-straight matches and eight of their last 10.
Baranov and Denise Torrealba are second among APSU's tandems with an 8-3 mark having won seven of their last 10, while Yu-Hua Cheng and Asia Fontana anchor APSU in doubles with a 5-2 record and 4-1 record in ASUN action.
Thursday's match is the sixth all-time meeting between Austin Peay and Central Arkansas, with the Govs leading the all-time series, 3-2.
The Sugar Bears defeated APSU, 6-1 last January, ending a three-match losing streak to the Govs. Cheng earned the Govs' lone point in the loss after earning a straight-set victory from the No. 6 singles court.
Central Arkansas is tied for eighth in the ASUN standings at 13-5, 3-3 ASUN and has won three-straight matches after opening ASUN play 1-3.
After their match against Central Arkansas, the Govs face a long-time rival in Jacksonville State for their penultimate match of the regular season.
The Govs are 4-12 against their former Ohio Valley Conference rival since 2005, but have won three of the last five meetings since 2016. The Gamecocks are half a match behind the Govs in the ASUN standings at 4-3 in league play after dripping three-straight contests.
Austin Peay wraps up the regular season next week back in Clarksville with a 1 p.m., Tuesday match against Memphis at the Governors Tennis Courts.
