By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Wrapping up their fall slate with the busiest tournament of the semester, the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis team participated in the five-day ITA Ohio Valley Regionals that concluded on Monday afternoon, hosted by Middle Tennessee. Over a combination of multiple different brackets and mainly singles competition at the neutral venue, the Skyhawks achieved 10 wins – six of which occurred over the final two days of the event – to end the first half of the season with high hopes for the impending spring schedule.
One of the major bright spots for UTM in Murfreesboro was the continued upward trajectory of true freshman Lia Espinal, who grabbed a pair of singles wins and a two-on-two victory when paired with Jillian Niedzialowski. Responsible for four wins in the team’s last appearance at the Southeast Missouri Invitational nearly two weeks earlier, sophomore Ariadna Ondo picked up where she left off by matching that same number on three singles victories along with a doubles W next to Jule Streif.
Throughout the largest singles tournament of the weekend – the Main Draw stage concentrated of 128 players – senior Mizuki Sakurai advanced to the round of 64 with a Thursday triumph over Sylvia Gray of Northern Kentucky, decisively winning the third set by a 6-0 clip. Ultimately, Tennessee’s Olivia Symons took down the fifth-year Sakurai in the following round, 6-2 and 6-0.
Friday’s consolation bracket saw Espinal defeat Sarah Dev, representing Miami University of Ohio, in a wild 16-14 third set that paved the way for the Skyhawks’ later success in one-on-one play during the next 48 hours. After Ondo scooped up two separate W’s in the B Flight Singles tournament (downing Belmont’s Alyssa Getty and Austin Peay’s Yu-Hua Cheng by a 10-6 third set difference), Espinal won another first-round duel in the 84-player Saturday consolation, besting Perri Howard of Lipscomb.
All three of UT Martin’s remaining singles wins took place on Sunday afternoon – and coincidentally all against Lipscomb – where Sakurai, Ondo, and Sina Albersmeier pushed the Skyhawks’ one-on-one record to 8-16 during the entire event.
Both doubles victories by the navy and orange were cemented on Saturday throughout the consolation bracket, started with the Ondo/Streif pairing getting the better of Getty and Taylor Trondson, representing Belmont. Espinal and Niedzialowski continued that momentum with a two-on-two triumph over Austin Peay’s Cheng and Martina Paladini-Jennings in an 8-7 thriller.
Seizing 32 total wins in five separate events since early September, the Skyhawks will begin preparation for the lengthier portion of the schedule in the second half of the school year, awaiting the spring season’s dawn on January 22nd/23rd when visiting Western Kentucky and Louisville in back-to-back days.
18 meetings will comprise UTM’s spring schedule, with nine of the team’s 11 non-conference dates scheduled away from home. Ohio Valley Conference territory will begin on March 25th/26th when traveling to SIUE and Eastern Illinois.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information