By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It's tourney time for the Tennessee Tech tennis team, as the Golden Eagles head to Evansville, Ind. to take aim in the 2021 OVC Tournament and a bid at the program's fifth consecutive championship.
As the No. 1 seed, Tech will square off with No. 4 Austin Peay in a Saturday semifinal at 10 a.m. CT. The victor will face the winner of the other semifinal pitting No. 2 Jacksonville State against No. 3 Belmont in Sunday's championship match, also set to begin at 10 a.m. The two-day event will take place at the Wesselman Tennis Center.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Riding a nine-match winning streak into the tournament, the Golden Eagles (9-5, 5-0 OVC) captured the program's eighth regular-season championship in the last 10 full seasons behind a perfect 5-0 OVC slate this spring. Tech's title saw the purple and gold outscore its conference counterparts 31-5 in the five affairs. TTU's only losses this year are to "Power 5" schools, and the club's nine-match winning streak is the longest since nine straight nods in 2016.
A collective effort in capturing the regular-season crown, Tech shared the wealth on the Ohio Valley Conference postseason awards list behind a league-high five All-OVC selections, the second-most in a single-season in program history (six in 1990). Carlos Vicente, Elias Grubert and Rafael Tosetto were all recognized on the All-OVC first team, while Evzen Holis and Andre Rodeia secured spots on the All-OVC second team.
Head coach Kenny Doyle was also honored as the OVC Coach of the Year, his sixth such award in 12 seasons guiding the Golden Eagles.
Elias Grubert and Andre Rodeia lead the team with nine singles wins apiece. The pair join Mika Berghaus and Rafael Tosetto as Tech's quartet of Golden Eagles to go 5-0 during OVC play. Carlos Vicente posted a 4-1 conference mark and has appeared out of the No. 1 spot a club-high 13 times, going 8-5 in that top position.
In 2019 the Golden Eagles captured their fourth straight OVC Tournament title to become the first four-peat tourney winner since Middle Tennessee claimed eight straight championships in the early to late 90s. TTU is the only team out of the current six league members that has ever won four titles in a row.
A look at Austin Peay
The Govs (2-10, 2-3 OVC) are coming off a 7-0 loss in Cookeville to seal the deal on the 2021 regular season. APSU started the year with seven straight non-conference losses, before posting a 2-3 league ledger. Peay fell to JSU, Belmont and Tech, and collected wins against Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois.
Frederic Schlossmann is the only Gov to receive All-OVC recognition behind a spot on the All-OVC second team. The 5-foot-10 freshman out of Regensburg, Germany went 2-3 in OVC play, and overall, went 2-3 out of the No. 1 slot and 2-5 out of the No. 2 position. Schlossmann was one of three Governors with four solo victories this spring, joining Anton Damberg and Jacob Lorino with 4-8 overall records.
Austin Peay has two OVC championships in its history, with titles in 1974 and 2013.
Inside the Series
Tech leads the all-time series 46-25 over the Govs. The Golden Eagles have won five in a row, all by 7-0 margins, including seizing the regular-season finale on Apr. 17 in Cookeville. Austin Peay did win the last OVC Tournament meeting with a 4-0 in the 2015 semifinals.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
