By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
SAINT LOUIS, Mo. – The tag-team partnerships of Jillian Niedzialowski/Mizuki Sakurai and Amelia Campbell/Aziza Aubin delivered a spark plug for the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis team in the early going of Friday evening’s non-conference duel with Saint Louis, awarding the Skyhawks a pair of major two-on-two wins in a 5-2 decision against the Billikens in the Gateway City.
Aubin and Campbell – the former of which also gifted UTM with their lone singles triumph of the day later in the contest – kicked off proceedings against SLU with a 6-2 performance over Mya Spencer and Norhan Hesham.
Sakurai and Niedzialowski – one of the most formidable duos on the roster this season already – managed to deliver the deciding point in two-on-two play by virtue of a 7-5 W over Elizabeth Mintusova and Lucija Faj. Altogether, this marks the fourth such victory by the junior/senior combo since late January.
The Skyhawks’ momentum couldn’t stay completely intact during singles play against the Billikens, with Aubin’s aforementioned 6-3 (twice) score over Lizzie Barlow the only UTM win in one-on-one competition as the penultimate series.
Dropping to 0-7 on the year, UT Martin will stay in town for the eighth consecutive match away from home – and the final one before returning to Tennessee – tomorrow against Chicago State, battling the Cougars at 3:30 on a neutral court in Saint Louis.
Putting the finishing touches on a perfect individual weekend at 4-0 over a 48-hour stretch, junior Aziza Aubin highlighted a spirited effort for the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis squad throughout Saturday afternoon’s neutral-court duel with the Chicago State Cougars.
In yet another tight finish, CSU eventually pulled out the 4-2 victory to drop UTM to 0-8 on the season. However, the Aubin/Amelia Campbell and Sina Albersmeier/Jule Streif tandems pulled the Cougars to the limit, winning back-to-back doubles sets by a combined score of 14-11.
Aubin and Campbell – who also emerged victorious in tag-team action against Saint Louis the previous evening – repeated that result over Katarina Dukic and Susana Andres in a thrilling 7-6 conclusion. Albersmeier and Streif solidified the Skyhawks’ doubles triumph by picking up a 7-5 W over Cali Fuller and Katarina Drazic, the second straight day in which UT Martin took two out of the three bouts in two-on-two competition.
Albersmeier/Streif and Campbell/Aubin have now combined for six doubles victories in 2022, before Aubin would later grab her fourth singles win in the second half of the outing by defeating Lizi Morgoshia 6-3 and 6-4. The third-year brit has now won her last three singles matches as the Skyhawks continue to gain momentum in the latter half of non-conference play.
Senior Mizuki Sakurai nearly gave the navy and orange another one-on-one win against Andres, winning the opening rally 7-6 and leading the second by a 3-2 clip before the match as a whole was clinched by Chicago State elsewhere at the Gateway City venue.
Following Aubin’s 4-0 progression over the Billikens and the Cougars, UTM can now look forward to a pair of home appearances for the first time this semester next weekend. The Missouri State Bears will meet the Skyhawks on Friday, March 4th at 5:00 p.m. under the lights, before the Chattanooga Mocs follow suit two days later at 1:00 p.m. in a Sunday matinee back in Tennessee.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information