COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Each of the Tennessee Tech tennis teams got its Ohio Valley Conference schedule started with a convincing win Thursday over Morehead State, with the women posting a 5-2 victory and the men claiming a 6-1 win.

Tech’s OVC slate continues Saturday when the Golden Eagles host UT Martin in men’s and women’s matches beginning at 2 p.m.

“It was a good day,” said first-year Golden Eagle tennis coach Dan Silverstein. “I thought we played well all the way up and down the lineup. It was great to play at home, and exactly what we wanted to get the conference season started.”

In the women’s contest, MSU won the doubles points but Tech took five of the six singles events for the victory. At the point when the match could have gone either way, Golden Eagle freshman Tatiana Denezhkina pulled things together and rallied for a win at No. 4 singles that clinched the match.

In men’s play, the Golden Eagles took the doubles point then recorded straight set wins in five singles contests on the way to the victory.

Morehead State grabbed wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions to give the visiting Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead in the match. Tech’s No. 2 duo of Kelly Holtzhausen and Denezhkina outlasted Alexandra Rydberg and Megan Rozboril, 8-7, to avoid the doubles sweep.

Holtzhausen improved to 6-0 in singles play, getting 6-2, 6-4 win over Madeleinne Anterro at the No. 1 spot. The Golden Eagles made it a 3-1 match with singles wins by Diana Woodcock at No. 5 and Laura Porras at No. 6.

Morehead State had the lead at both the No. 2 and No. 3 matches, so it looked as if Denezhkina needed to hold on at No. 4 to give the Golden Eagles the victory. She took a 6-3 win in the first set, but Rydberg rallied from a 5-2 defecit to tie the second set at 5-5. Despite giving up seven points on double faults, Denezhkina was able to hold on to win, 7-5, and jump in celebration of clinching the day’s results.

Heather Butt held on to get Morehead State a win at No. 3, but over on the second court, Barnhill fought back after dropping the first set to win in three, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

The Golden Eagle women improved to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

The Tech men saw their record improve to 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the league with their win over the Eagles. The Golden Eagles won the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3. In between, Morehead State’s Greg Anderson and Bradley Bryan claimed a tie-breaker to avoid the sweep.

Tech got straight set wins at five of the six singles slots to chalk up the win. At No. 1, Dean O’Brien improved to 8-1 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Dusan Milavanovic. Josh Girling, Justin Kirstein and Mario Gutierrez each won for the second consecutive day with straight set victories. At No. 5, Oscar Pachon got his sixth straight win with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Nathan Blum.

Morhead State’s only point came at No. 2 singles, where Greg Anderson earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory, snapping Alex Chen’s three-match win streak.


Women’s Match
Tennessee Tech 5, Morehead State 2

Doubles Play
No. 1 – Butt/Delaney (MOR) def. Yartseva/Krutkina, 8-3
No. 2 – Holtzhausen/Denezhkina (TTU) def. Rydberg/Rozboril, 8-7
No. 3 – Lakow/Antero (MOR) def. Barnhill/Woodcock, 8-3

Singles Play
No. 1 – Kelly Holtzhausen (TTU) def. Madeleinne Anterro, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 – Katie Barnhill (TTU) def. Megan Rozboril, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 – Heather Butt (MOR) def. Alena Krutkina, 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 – Tatiana Denezhkina (TTU) def. Alexandra Rydberg, 6-3, 7-5
No. 5 – Diana Woodcock (TTU def. Lauren Delaney, 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 – Laura Porras (TTU) def. Alix Lakow, 6-0, 6-2

Men’s Match
Tennessee Tech 6, Morehead State 1

Doubles Play
No. 1 – O’Brien/Girling (TTU) def. Wolfson/Milavanovic, 8-4
No. 2 – Anderson/Bryan (MOR) def. Chen/Gutierrez, 8-7 (7-4)
No. 3 – Kirstein/Pachon (TTU) def. Blum/Medcalf, 8-3

Singles Play
No. 1 – Dean O’Brien (TTU) def. Dusan Milavanovic, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 – Greg Anderson (MOR) def. Alex Chen, 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 – Josh Girling (TTU) def. Jason Wolfson, 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 – Justin Kirstein (TTU) def. Bradley Bryan, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 – Oscar Pachon (TTU) def. Nathan Blum, 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 – Mario Gutierrez (TTU) def. Charles Hodge, 6-0, 6-0