By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The regular season's final weekend as well as the last homestand of the spring are on deck for the Tennessee Tech tennis team, as the Golden Eagles will tie a ribbon on the regular year with a pair of conference clashes in Cookeville. The purple and gold will play host to Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday, Apr. 22, before TTU closes out the regular season with a Sunday, Apr. 23 battle against Lindenwood at 11 a.m.
Admission to both matches at Tech Tennis Courts is free of charge.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Having already locked up a spot in the Horizon League Tournament at the end of the month, the Golden Eagles (5-13, 5-2 HL) will look to officially clinch second place in the league's South Division. A pair of purple and gold victories over the Panthers and Lions will ensure TTU a second-place finish in the south and a quarterfinal meeting against the North Division's No. 3 seed in the Horizon League Tournament.
Tech is fresh off a busy weekend on the road that saw the Golden Eagles play in three straight away matches over the course of three days. After falling to No. 28 Middle Tennessee on Apr. 14 and a red-hot Belmont team that has won 10 consecutive contests on Apr. 15, the Golden Eagles bounced back behind a 5-2 victory at Tennessee State on Apr. 16.
Tech's triumph over the Tigers featured singles nods from Mika Berghaus, Elias Grubert, Paulo Ramos Martin and Jaime Paquet. TTU also clinched the doubles point thanks to victories out of the duo of Grubert and Ramos Martin as well as the Tech tandem of Berghaus and Pol Masafret.
Berghaus enters the final weekend of the regular season with a club-leading eight singles wins this spring, which includes an impressive 6-1 conference mark, with all seven solo matchups taking place at the top of the TTU lineup. The Cologne, Germany native has won seven of his last eight singles meetings.
A look at Eastern Illinois
The Panthers (5-13, 1-7 HL) come to Cookeville with just one league win in their back pocket behind a 4-3 nod over Lindenwood on Mar. 25. The club has since dropped five consecutive decisions, including a 5-1 defeat in a rematch with the Lions in EIU's last match on Apr. 15. Thomas Wallace picked up the lone Panther point thanks to a 6-4, 6-2 victory in the No. 5 singles get-together.
Overall, Wallace leads the squad with a 9-9 singles ledger, going 8-6 out of the No. 5 position. Pau Riera has the second most solo wins this spring behind six, with a 4-9 mark out of the No. 2 slot and a 2-3 record out of the No. 3 spot.
Riera and Alex Dinkov have teamed up to produce EIU's most successful doubles tandem thanks to a 4-4 account, all out of the No. 2 position.
A look at Lindenwood
Before their Sunday affair at Tech Tennis Courts, the Lions (5-10, 2-6 HL) will travel to Southern Indiana for a Saturday matchup with the Screaming Eagles in a rematch of a conference contest captured by Lindenwood on Mar. 19 for one of only two league wins for this Lions this spring. Lindenwood also bested EIU at home in its last match on Apr. 15 in a tilt that saw Carlos Rodriguez, Anton de la Puente, Alonso De Prada, Fernando Martin Paz and Pavle Drobnjakovic all register singles victories.
Drobnjakovic possesses the Lions best solo mark with a 9-5 record. The Belgrade, Serbia product has gone 4-1 in Horizon League play. Martin Paz and De Prada have combined for the club's best doubles ledger, teaming up for a 5-4 record, all in the No. 2 spot.
Inside the series
The Golden Eagles have controlled the all-time series with Eastern Illinois to the tune of winning 23 of the previous 24 get-togethers with the Panthers. In the meeting earlier this season in Charleston, Ill., Tech took care of business behind a 6-1 victory on Mar. 19 that saw the Golden Eagles clinch the doubles point as well as solo triumphs from Mika Berghaus, Elias Grubert, Evzen Holis, Paulo Ramos Martin and Jaime Paquet.
Sunday's affair will mark the second-ever battle between the Golden Eagles and Lions. Tech and Lindenwood locked up for the first time on Mar. 17 in St. Charles, Mo. in a Golden Eagle 7-0 win. Berghaus, Grubert, Holis, Ramos Martin, Paquet and Pol Masafret all took their place in the winner's circle during singles action.
Photo by Jim Dillon
