Abdukalikov and Chen ranked in Top-10 Player Rankings

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. --- The Tennessee Tech tennis team has been selected to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference standings by the head coaches from around the OVC and two Golden Eagles have received preseason recognition.

Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish atop the OVC as it garnered 64 points and eight first-place votes. Austin Peay came in second with 53 points.

Tennessee Tech came in at third with 49 points and one first place vote, and was followed closely by Jacksonville State with 47 points.

Morehead State came in at fifth with 33 points, with Murray State two points behind in sixth. OVC newcomer SIUE (20), Eastern Illinois (19) and Tennessee State (8) rounded out the final three spots.

Along with being picked to finish third, Golden Eagle senior Alex Chen and junior Syrym Abdukalikov, were selected as two of the top 10 preseason players in the OVC.

Chen, who was picked No. 7, won three singles matches during the 2011 fall season and has won two doubles matches so far in 2012 and has 62 career victories at Tech including 39 singles and 23 doubles victories. Abdukalikov, who was picked No. 8, has won seven singles and five doubles matches dating back to last fall after sitting out during his first season at TTU last year.

Austin Peay has two representatives on the list including Sean Bailey (3) and Jasmin Ademovic who was ranked No. 1 by the coaches from the OVC. Eastern Kentucky has four players on the Top-10 list including Hugo Klientosky (2), Nik Schroeder (4), Philip Janz (5) and Parul Verma (10). Jacksonville State’s Axel Sunberg (6) and Morehead State’s Nathan Martin (9) round out the list.

School                                                                         Points

1. Eastern Kentucky (8 first-place votes)                         64

2. Austin Peay                                                               53

3. Tennessee Tech (1 first-place vote)                       49

4. Jacksonville State                                                      47

5. Morehead State                                                         33

6. Murray State                                                              31

7. SIUE                                                                         20

8. Eastern Illinois                                                           19

9. Tennessee State                                                         8