By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
FLORENCE, Ala. – Competing in their second consecutive multi-team event on the road in the early stages of the 2021 fall semester, the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis squad featured an array of productive performances both in singles and doubles series against the likes of Alabama A&M, Murray State, and host institution North Alabama on Friday and Saturday.
Seven days after seeing an early end to the Austin Peay Fall Tournament due to heavy rain in the area, Mother Nature held off this time while the Skyhawks’ eight-player roster produced their most well-rounded effort of the very young season, leading to a 14-for-27 overall record next to a 5-4 mark in doubles play. The trio of Sina Albersmeier, Mizuki Sakurai, and Ariadna Ondo totaled six of UTM’s nine victories in the singles department over the weekend, highlighted by a 9-3 record in one-on-one competition versus the Lions and Bulldogs. Additionally, junior Jillian Niedzialowski finished the 48-hour event at 3-0 in doubles play when paired alongside Sakurai, Amelia Campbell, and true freshman Lia Espinal.
As the team grabbed eight victories in all across the first day of play – including a pair of doubles wins over Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State – the Skyhawks’ efficient start to the weekend translated to six more W’s on Saturday, capped by an 8-1 stretch in total from Albersmeier and Niedzialowski over the two-day event.
In fact, Albersmeier never lost a singles or doubles set over the entire weekend in four attempts after picking up her first individual win the previous week, paired with Sakurai and Jule Streif in doubles play while taking two more singles victories over UNA and Alabama A&M.
The Albersmeier-Sakurai combo matched the first-time pairing of Niedzialowski and newcomer Espinal by scooping up one W each against Murray State to open the four-team invitational on a high note at 2-1 in doubles. Achieving two straight 6-1 decisions in the same format against Alabama A&M (from the tandems of Niedzialowski-Sakurai and Albersmeier-Streif) later in the afternoon, the Skyhawks rode the momentum of their hot start into a 4-2 singles performance over the hosting Lions, where Espinal, Sakurai, and Ondo closed day one with three straight UTM triumphs.
Saturday brought similar fortunes for Coach Williams and co., where the doubles duo of Niedzialowski and Campbell gave the team its fifth win in the two-on-two format against North Alabama. UT Martin’s most commanding performance of the entire weekend highlighted the middle portion of the second day, where the Skyhawks posted a 5-1 singles mark over the Bulldogs by a combined score of 69-29.
Although the navy and orange couldn’t duplicate that singles output in the final stretch of the tournament going head-to-head with the Racers, it was still a vastly positive showing for UTM by putting up a final doubles record of 5-4 next to an even .500 in singles play at 9-9.
Following three weekends in a row of fall competition, the Skyhawks will enjoy a week off once returning home from Florence, preparing for their penultimate date on the semester schedule in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on October 9th. As the third side in a Hidden Dual against the hosting Southeast Missouri Redhawks and Saint Louis, UTM now sets their sights on the second-to-last fall event before the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals in late October.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information