NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With an altered lineup that turned his two
top players into spectators for the day, coach Kenny Doyle's Golden
Eagle tennis team posted a 6-1 Ohio Valley Conference win over
Tennessee State Saturday in Nashville.
Justin Kirstein and Alejandro Augusto [shown in photo during a
break between sets] each remained unbeaten in OVC play while
leading the Golden Eagles to their fifth consecutive dual match
victory. Tech improved to 4-0 in OVC matches and 6-7 overall.
With Syrym Abduhkalikov and Alex Chen, Tech's usual No. 1 and No.
2 players, taking a break from action, everybody moved up a couple
of positions in the Tech lineup against the Tigers (0-6/0-5
OVC).
Tech improved to 26-0 all-time against Tennessee State.
Vasily Eremeev and Artem Tarasov stepped into the No. 1 doubles
spot and claimed an 8-1 win, while Kirstein and Augusto gained an
8-0 shutout victory at No. 2. Tech won the No. 3 doubles spot by
default, and had a 1-0 lead in the match.
Tarasov, a freshman who has played at No. 3 singles since joining
the team in January, climbed into the No. 1 role where he took a
7-5, 6-1 loss to TSU's premier player, Lawrence Washington.
Below that in the lineup, Tech earned straight set wins in Nos. 2
through 5 while losing just five points total. Augusto won his No.
2 contest, 6-0, 6-1; Kirstein jumped to No. 3 and won, 6-2, 6-2;
Eremeev played at No. 4 and captured a 6-0, 6-0 win; and James
Crawford was inserted into the No. 5 spot for a 6-0, 6-0
victory.
The Golden Eagles face a much tougher assignment Sunday as the
hope to keep their perfect OVC record intact. Tech plays a 10 a.m.
match at Jacksonville State.