COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- It was a long, difficult day for Tennessee
Tech's Vasily Eremeev. In the end, it was also a very rewarding day
for the sophomore from Russia and his Golden Eagle teammates.
Eremeev earned the deciding point as Tennessee Tech edged Austin
Peay in a battle between the two unbeaten Ohio Valley Conference
men's tennis teams. Tech (8-7/6-0 OVC) took the lead in the
conference race with two road matches looming this weekend at
Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville. Austin Peay (10-8/5-1 OVC)
slipped into a tie for second place heading into the final weekend
of the regular season.
The way the match unfurled, Eremeev faced a must-win situation at
No. 6 singles and things were looking bleak. He lost the first set,
6-3, to Iago Seffrin, and trailed in the second, 4-1. That's when
Eremeev put the pieces together.
"All of a sudden I started to feel the ball better and made my
shots," Eremeev said. "In the first set, I was just hitting it and
in the second set I was thinking too much. I got it back to 4-3,
and I realized what I needed to do to win. All of a sudden
everything was working. I was hitting shots and trying not to think
too much."
Eremeev won the next three points to capture the second set, 6-4,
and grabbed an early lead in the third set.
Meanwhile, everything else on the TTU campus courts was complete
except the No. 1 singles match, and it was slowly turning toward
the Govs. Eremeev was aware he probably needed his point for the
Golden Eagles to win. Seffrin made it 4-3 and Eremeev held serve to
make it 5-3. Seffrin also held serve to cut the difference to 5-4,
before Eremeev captured the deciding point.
It was the second tough match of the day for Eremeev, who teamed
with Artem Tarasov to claim a 9-8 (2) win at No. 2 doubles, part of
a sweep of all three doubles events for the Golden Eagles and a 1-0
lead. The duo downed John Storie and Jasmin Ademovic. At No. 1,
Syrym Abdukhalikov and Alex Chen defeated Sean Bailey and Dimitar
Ristowski, 8-6, while in the No. 3 spot, Alejandro Augusto and
Justin Kirstein cruised to an 8-3 win over Seffrin and Michael
Hriciste.
Aleksas Tverjonas got a quick start for APSU in singles play,
earning a 6-2, 6-1 win over Tarasov at No. 4 to tie the match at
1-1. Augusto answered with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles over
Ristowski to put Tech ahead, 2-1. It kept the freshman from Spain
unbeaten in OVC play at 6-0.
On the No. 2 court, Ademovic battled to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chen
and once again the match was knotted at 2-2.
Senior Justin Kirstein also kept his OVC singles mark intact at
6-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Storie in the No. 5 slot, setting the
stage for the final two points.
On the No. 1 court, Abduhkalikov raced out to a 5-2 lead in the
opening set before Bailey worked his way back to tie things and
eventually win in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (4). That's when Eremeev began
to turn his match around, and went on to win the point and the
match. It proved essential, as Bailey completed his comeback with a
6-2 win in the second set.
April 22, 2012
Eastern Kentucky tops Tech to capture OVC Tournament title
April 19, 2012
Doyle OVC Coach of the Year, Two Golden Eagles named all-OVC
March 30, 2012
Golden Eagles on the road this weekend for two OVC matches
March 28, 2012
Tech freshman Augusto named OVC Tennis co-Player of the Week
March 28, 2012
Golden Eagles blank Racers in mid-week OVC match
March 25, 2012
Golden Eagles sweep weekend, top Morehead State Sunday, 5-2
March 23, 2012
Getting to know: Golden Eagle tennis player Vasily Eremeev
March 17, 2012
Golden Eagle tennis team claims 4-3 victory at UNC Asheville
March 14, 2012
Tech drops 6-1 match to future OVC foe Belmont
February 26, 2012
Golden Eagles tripped by East Tennessee, 6-1
February 18, 2012
Louisville claims 6-1 match over Golden Eagles
February 18, 2012
Golden Eagles head to Louisville to face No. 35 ranked Cardinals
February 9, 2012
Tech’s Tennis dual against Gardner-Webb postponed
February 3, 2012
Golden Eagle Tennis picked to finish third in Preseason OVC Poll
February 3, 2012
Elon Phoenix sweeps Golden Eagle tennis team, 7-0
February 2, 2012
Golden Eagles tennis takes on Elon Friday
January 28, 2012
Golden Eagles nab first win of season, topping UNCG 4-3 in Memphis
January 27, 2012
Tech opens weekend with 6-1 loss at No. 46 Memphis
January 26, 2012
Golden Eagle tennis to take on Memphis, UNC Greensboro this weekend
January 22, 2012
Tennis team drops dual match with Chattanooga, 6-1
January 21, 2012
Tech netters open season with 6-1 loss to ranked Radford
January 16, 2012
Golden Eagles open 2012 tennis schedule this weekend
October 21, 2011
A trio of Golden Eagles advance in the Ohio Valley Region
October 21, 2011
Golden Eagles continue play in Ohio Valley Regionals
October 19, 2011
Six Golden Eagles to compete at USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Region
October 4, 2011
Golden Eagles wrap up play at the ITA All-American Championships
October 2, 2011
Chen goes 1-1 at ITA All-America Championships
September 30, 2011
Two Golden Egales playing at ITA Championships in Tulsa
September 25, 2011
Eremeev, Kirstein wrap up Southern Invitational
September 24, 2011
Kirstein advances to round of 32 at Southern Intercollegiates
September 24, 2011
Kirstein advanaces to Southern Invitational quaterfinals
September 21, 2011
Four Golden Eagles to compete in Southern Intercollegiate tourney
September 18, 2011
Abdukhailikov and Chen win Goodfriend Doubles Draw
September 17, 2011
TTU doubles pairings advance to finals of Tennessee Fall Tournament
September 16, 2011
Undefeated Eremeev paces Tech on first day at Tennessee Invitational
September 14, 2011
Golden Eagle tennis team kicks off fall season at UT Tournament