Golden Eagles top Morehead State, 5-2, in season finale
Tennessee Tech went down fighting Sunday. The Golden Eagle tennis team defeated Morehead State, 5-2, in the regular season finale but the win wasn't quite enough to earn one of the six seeds in the OVC Tournament.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech went down fighting. The Golden Eagle tennis team defeated Morehead State Sunday, 5-2, in the regular season finale but the win wasn't quite enough to extend the season. Tech finished the year with a 4-5 record in Ohio Valley Conference play, good for a tie for fifth place.
However, due to the league's tiebreakers, Tech wasn't able to capture one of the top six seeds and advance to the OVC Tournament next week. Tech took the eighth spot in the final seedings, ending 2014 for coach Kenny Doyle's squad.
The Golden Eagles enjoyed one of their best outings of the season, winning the doubles point and four of the six singles matches for the 5-2 victory.
The doubles points was marked on Tech's side of the scoreboard fairly quickly as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams each stormed to 8-2 victories. At No. 1, Oleksiy Arovin and Alberto Esteban downed Morehead's pair of Ji Hoon Heo and Jack Swindells, while on the No. 2 court, Vasily Eremeev and Artem Tarasov stopped David Clifford and Nick Mercer.
Four of the singles battles were finished in straight sets, with two going to the Golden Eagles and two going to the visiting Eagles.
At No. 2, Esteban posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Giovanni Samaha, and at No. 6, it was Tarasov posting 6-4, 6-4 win over Gabriel Ruiz. Morehead got a 6-3, 6-4 win by Heo at No. 3 singles over Gagan Jain, and at No. 4 it was Mercer posting a 6-2, 6-3 win over Eremeev.
Leading 3-2, the Golden Eagles polished off the final two matches in three sets each. At No. 1, Arovin outlasted Swindells, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and in the No. 5 match, Alvaro Cintas posted a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Clifford.
Tennessee Tech 5, Morehead State 2
Cookeville, Tenn./Tech campus courts
Singles
No. 1 - Oleksiy Arovin (TTU) def. Jack Swindells, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 - Alberto Esteban (TTU) def. Giovanni Samaha, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 - Ji Hoon Heo (MSU) def. Gagan Jain, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 - Nick Mercer (MSU) def. Vasily Eremeev, 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 - Alvaro Cintas (TTU) def. David Clifford, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
No. 6 - Artem Tarasov (TTU) def. Gabriel Ruiz, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 - Oleksiy Arovin/Alberto Esteban (TTU) def. Heo/Swindells, 8-2
No. 2 - Vasily Eremeev/Artem Tarasov (TTU) def. Clifford/Mercer, 8-2
No. 3 - Alvaro Cintas/Gagan Jain (TTU) vs. Smaha/Ruiz, DNF
