March 31, 2012

Altered lineup nets same result; Golden Eagles top Tennessee State

With an altered lineup that turned his two top players into spectators for the day, coach Kenny Doyle's Golden Eagle tennis team posted a 6-1 Ohio Valley Conference win over Tennessee State Saturday in Nashville.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With an altered lineup that turned his two top players into spectators for the day, coach Kenny Doyle's Golden Eagle tennis team posted a 6-1 Ohio Valley Conference win over Tennessee State Saturday in Nashville.

Justin Kirstein and Alejandro Augusto [shown in photo during a break between sets] each remained unbeaten in OVC play while leading the Golden Eagles to their fifth consecutive dual match victory. Tech improved to 4-0 in OVC matches and 6-7 overall.

With Syrym Abduhkalikov and Alex Chen, Tech's usual No. 1 and No. 2 players, taking a break from action, everybody moved up a couple of positions in the Tech lineup against the Tigers (0-6/0-5 OVC).

Tech improved to 26-0 all-time against Tennessee State.

Vasily Eremeev and Artem Tarasov stepped into the No. 1 doubles spot and claimed an 8-1 win, while Kirstein and Augusto gained an 8-0 shutout victory at No. 2. Tech won the No. 3 doubles spot by default, and had a 1-0 lead in the match.

Tarasov, a freshman who has played at No. 3 singles since joining the team in January, climbed into the No. 1 role where he took a 7-5, 6-1 loss to TSU's premier player, Lawrence Washington.

Below that in the lineup, Tech earned straight set wins in Nos. 2 through 5 while losing just five points total. Augusto won his No. 2 contest, 6-0, 6-1; Kirstein jumped to No. 3 and won, 6-2, 6-2; Eremeev played at No. 4 and captured a 6-0, 6-0 win; and James Crawford was inserted into the No. 5 spot for a 6-0, 6-0 victory.

The Golden Eagles face a much tougher assignment Sunday as the hope to keep their perfect OVC record intact. Tech plays a 10 a.m. match at Jacksonville State.