The Murray State women’s tennis team lost its first outdoor match of the season on Saturday, falling to Jacksonville State in a non-conference contest.
Jacksonville State secured the doubles point early, establishing 4-2 leads on all three courts. The Racers’ No. 2 pair, Sofia Issakova and Barbora Hermanova, managed to tie their match at 4-4 before Jacksonville State claimed victories on courts one and three to win the doubles point.
In singles play, Murray State initially led on four of six courts. However, Jacksonville State regained control by splitting the first sets across all matches and then extended its lead with straight-set wins at the No. 6 and No. 3 positions. Sophomore Bruna Melato battled through several match points at No. 5 but ultimately lost in a close second set, giving Jacksonville State its fourth and clinching point.
Murray State saw individual success at the top of its lineup as juniors Yuna Kadowaki and Valeria Chaikovskaia won their matches at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. At No. 4 singles, Yu Kikawa’s four-match winning streak ended after a narrow defeat in a third-set tiebreaker.
“First outdoor match of the season is always tough, but we competed hard and unfortunately could not win the big points to turn the match in our favor,” said Murray State head coach Jorge Caetano. “We have a tough stretch of matches ahead of us with five matches in nine days starting at UNA next Saturday, but this is exactly what we need at the moment.”
The Racers are scheduled to play again on Saturday, March 14, against North Alabama.
