By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
Snatching two more singles victories next to another in tag-team competition against an Ohio Valley Conference opponent with only one loss to their resume, the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis squad fought valiantly versus SIUE in the 2022 league opener on Friday afternoon, ultimately taking a 5-2 setback once the Cougars barely managed the overall doubles point in two extremely close decisions.
Bringing their win total to four as a duo this spring, the British tandem of Aziza Aubin and Amelia Campbell outlasted SIUE’s Jordan Schifano and Vanessa Reinicke by a 7-6 margin, giving the Skyhawks their 10th doubles win over the past eight meetings and 22nd of the year of that nature.
Jillian Niedzialowski and Lia Espinal – who themselves have three wins in the two-on-two format since January – nearly cemented the overall doubles point for the navy and orange, narrowly falling by that same 7-6 clip to give the Cougars the nod in a precarious manner.
To no surprise for those following the Skyhawks this semester, Aubin kept her individual hot streak going against one of the more imposing teams in the OVC, capturing her seventh singles victory in a row over Fabiola Perez (7-6 and 6-4), the junior’s eighth W of the semester altogether.
Moving towards her fifth win in one-on-one action, senior Mizuki Sakurai granted UT Martin their second point with a 6-2 (repeated) triumph over Amber Hochstatter, the roster’s 37th singles win over the past two months.
Additionally, both Niedzialowski and Jule Streif battled right down to the wire versus Nicole Gomez and Schifano respectively, with the former even grabbing an opening-set W by a 7-5 clip before barely dropping the third rally by a 10-8 edge. Elsewhere, Streif inched dangerously close to knocking off Schifano in back-to-back 7-5 results that helped SIUE take the ultra-close win.
Decisively gaining their first Ohio Valley Conference victory in only a second attempt, the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis squad had little troubles with the Panthers of Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon, downing their league foe by a 5-2 margin off the back of superb work in both singles and doubles play.
UTM and head coach Caitlyn Williams made zero doubt as to the outcome of Saturday’s affair by taking the first two tag-team matches in a distinct manner (moved to the University of Illinois after a sequence of rain in Charleston prevented outdoor activity). The Skyhawks owned the neutral floor with a pair of duo’s wins from Aziza Aubin/Amelia Campbell and Jillian Niedzialowski/Lia Espinal, the fifth and fourth wins on the year for those combos, respectively.
Continuing their perfect weekend as a unit after yesterday’s similar victory in doubles play over SIUE, the Aubin/Campbell tag pitched a 6-0 shutout over Lauren Ellis and Rachel Papavasilopoulos for their second straight win. Espinal and Niedzialowski continued UTM’s one-sided output in doubles by taking down Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova and Brittany Steven, 6-2.
Effectively clinching the match and the team’s second W of the season via one-on-one wins from Aubin, Espinal, Campbell, and Mizuki Sakurai, the Skyhawks kept their momentum going for the rest of the day while not letting the Panthers seize any daylight. Once Eastern Illinois took the first point in singles play, Campbell quickly evened things up with a 6-4 (repeated) result over Christine Gouws, the senior’s second individual win of 2022.
Campbell’s doubles partner, Aubin, followed this up with yet another victory to add to her exemplary spring, improving to an eighth consecutive victory and ninth overall. Defeating Steven 6-2 and 6-3 to give UT Martin their third point, the junior has still not been bested in well over a month as arguably the Skyhawks’ most impressive performer.
From there, UTM cruised to their final two points to complete the win, as Espinal brought coach Williams’ crew the next W over Addison Brown, 6-4 and 6-3. Since the beginning of the year, the true freshman has trailed only Aubin in terms of total singles victories by snatching her eighth on Saturday. Sakurai clinched the triumph for the Skyhawks by securing point #5, besting Ellis by 6-4 and 6-3 margins to scoop her second personal win in a row and sixth of the semester.
The weekend win over Eastern Illinois – the team’s fourth match this week alone all on the road – marks the program’s second straight over the Panthers after doing the same in 2021, which was then the team’s first win in Charleston in seven years. UTM will compete at their own venue next against Southeast Missouri on April 2nd.
First serve against the Redhawks in Martin one week from today is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information