MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Needing a win in the regular season finale Sunday, the Morehead State women's tennis team overcame a rally by visiting Austin Peay to upend the Lady Govs 4-3 and earn a spot in next weekend's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
MSU improved to 11-9 overall and finished 4-5 in league matches. The Eagles are the sixth seed for the OVC Tournament and will have a re-match with Murray State, the third seed, Friday at 3 p.m. ET in the opening round at the Centennial Sports Complex in Nashville, Tenn.
After winning the doubles point and then taking a 3-1 match lead with a pair of singles wins, the Eagles saw APSU tie it with victories on courts five and six. MSU junior Victoria Cran clinched the Eagle win with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Alison Carre on court three.
"This was a complete team win," said MSU Head Coach Kevin Fulton. "We've had a tough couple of weeks, but I was so proud of everyone today for stepping up at the right time and earning a win. We had some people lose singles matches but they won their doubles, and we had some the other way around, so everyone helped us today in some way."
Seniors Alix Young, who teamed with freshman Alexis Garrett to win at number two doubles, and Jessica Montemayor, who won at three doubles with freshman Shilpa Naruka, were especially important, according to Fulton.
"I can't say enough about our two seniors. They really made some great things happen today and we couldn't have won it without their leadership."
Young and Garrett ousted Ornella Di Salvo/Andra Cornea 9-7 at two, and Montemayor and Naruka topped Vanessa Tavarez/Jovana Karak 8-4 at three. Cran and junior Brooke Helms took an 8-6 loss at number one to Vanja Tomic and Carre.
Tomic defeated Young 6-3, 6-1 at number one singles to knot the contest at 1-1. Garrett won a straight set, 6-1, 6-2 decision over Di Salvo at two, and Helms won at four. The Lady Govs tied it at 3-3 with three set victories on courts four and six. Naruka won the middle set 6-3 but sandwiched it around 6-4 and 6-3 setbacks in the other two.
Cran dropped her opening set but responded with resounding wins in the final two to pick up her team-leading 12th singles win.
