By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tourney time has arrived for the Tennessee Tech tennis team, as the Golden Eagles embark to Evansville, Ind. for the 2022 OVC Tournament with a bid in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
As the No. 2 seed, the Golden Eagles have already earned a first-round bye and secured a spot in Saturday's semifinal, where Tech will tangle with the third-seeded Tennessee State Tigers at 2 p.m. CT from the Wesselmann Tennis Center. Top-seeded Belmont will await the winner of Friday's quarterfinal clash between No. 4 Austin Peay and No. 5 Eastern Illinois to determine Saturday's other semifinal. The championship match is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m.
A look at Tennessee Tech
TTU (6-12, 3-1 OVC) is in search of its fifth OVC Tournament crown in the last six seasons after the program's bid at a five-peat was upended last spring after Belmont bested the purple and gold in a championship match that saw the Golden Eagles forced to forfeit two points due to COVID-19 protocols.
After a sluggish start to the 2022 campaign that featured battles against six nationally-ranked opponents over the first 10 affairs, the Golden Eagles concluded the regular season with a 5-3 record over the last eight matches. Tech finished the OVC campaign in second place after falling 5-2 at Belmont in the regular-season finale in a battle that pitted the conference's last two undefeated teams.
TTU marches into the OVC Tournament after a banner Thursday when the conference announced its postseason league honors. The purple and gold received a program-record seven accolades, highlighted by Elias Grubert's honor as the OVC Player of the Year. Grubert was also one of five Golden Eagles to take home All-OVC recognition, joining Mika Berghaus and Rafael Tosetto on the first team, while Evzen Holis and Carlos Vicente reserved spots on the second team.
Grubert and Berghaus also teamed up to earn a place on the inaugural All-OVC doubles team, one of four duos across the conference to collect the league's newest accolade. Playing exclusively in the top position, the TTU tandem put together a 2-1 record in OVC play.
Grubert and Berghaus wrapped up the regular season as the club leaders with seven singles wins apiece this spring. Grubert was also the only Golden Eagle to put together a 4-0 showing during conference play, with all four victories coming out of the No. 1 slot. Rafael Tosetto was the only other Golden Eagle to rack up an unblemished OVC showing thanks to a 3-0 mark.
A look at Tennessee State
The third-seeded Tigers (6-19, 2-2 OVC) split their quartet of conference contests behind road wins over Ausitn Peay and EIU and home losses to Tennessee Tech and Belmont. The Tigers enter the OVC Tournament with back-to-back nods to close out the regular season after topping Sant Louis 4-3 on Apr. 17 and Austin Peay 5-2 on Apr. 22.
TSU took home two All-OVC selections on Thursday, with Daniel Perez Caraballo securing an All-OVC first team accolade and Nil Moinet registering an All-OVC second-team honor.
The Tigers head to Evansville searching for the program's first-ever OVC Tournament title.
Inside the series
The Golden Eagles have never lost to Tennessee State in the all-time series, going a perfect 34-0 against the Tigers. Tech took the regular-season meeting behind a 6-1 win in Nashville on Apr. 9, one of only six meetings in the all-time set that saw TSU capture a point.
Elias Grubert, Mika Berghaus, Carlos Vicente, Evzen Holis and Rafael Tosetto all earned singles victories in the match, while Pierre Copin was responsible for notching the only Tiger point in the tilt.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
