By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With inclement weather looming in Cookeville for Friday's originally scheduled match against Tennessee State, the Tennessee Tech tennis team will now square off with the Tigers on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT. The contest will serve as the regular-season finale and admission is free of charge.
The Golden Eagles (7-13, 3-1 OVC) head into the affair with their in-state counterparts in a three-way tie for first with Jacksonville State and Belmont. JSU will travel to Tennessee State for its regular-season finale on Saturday, while Belmont will close out its OVC slate at Austin Peay on Saturday.
Tech enters its last home match of the year scorching in OVC play behind three consecutive 7-0 wins against conference competition. TTU most recently handed Jacksonville State its first league loss with a 7-0 nod in Jacksonville on Saturday in a tilt that saw Tech drop only one set during singles play.
Wenceslao Albin, the lone Golden Eagle senior who will be participating in his final collegiate contest in Cookeville, leads the club with a 10-7 singles mark and is the only Golden Eagle with singles victories in all four conference clashes.
Rafael Tosetto, who has won three straight OVC singles matchups, has eight singles nods this spring, all out of the No. 1 spot in the TTU lineup. Tosetto and fellow freshman Carlos Vicente have paced the purple and gold in doubles play with 10 tandem wins apiece this season.
A look at Tennessee State
The Tigers (5-9, 0-3 OVC) are searching for their first OVC win of the year after falling at Austin Peay, at home to Eastern Illinois and at Belmont this past Saturday.
Leandros Misdrachis possesses a 5-7 singles mark this spring, highlighted by a 4-4 mark out of the No. 1 spot in the Tennessee State lineup. Maksims Kazijevs is the only other Tiger to claim a win out of the top position in the order, posting a 2-2 record as a No. 1 competitor this spring. The Riga, Latvia native is also a perfect 2-0 out of the No. 1 doubles position, both nods occurring when paired alongside Larry Sloan.
Misdrachis and Stefan Korgua are the overall leaders in doubles action with four wins each.
Tech has never lost in the all-time series with Tennessee State, entering Wednesday with an unblemished 31-0 record.
Photo by Tony Marable
