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Women’s tennis opens season with a split


The UTM women’s tennis team opened its season with a win over Evansville and a loss to Louisville.

The Skyhawk women defeated Evansville 4-3 this past Saturday in Evansville.

Elly Sherman defeated Jessica Jetton 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles match. Gayatri Ramesh lost her season opener to Rachel Tessier 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot, while Skyhawk newcomer Jeanne De Wit, from South Africa, defeated Brokke Hoener 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles match.

Junior Ana Bakran, from Zagreb, Croatia, won her No. 4 match against Liz Hedde. Bakran won 6-0, 6-2. In doubles action, the Skyhawks claimed the point when Shearman and Bakran defeated Jetton and Hoener 8-6. In the other doubles match, Ramesh and De Wit defeated Hedde and Tessier 8-4.

“We were worried about our women's team because we only have five players,” said Dennis Taylor, Skyhawk head tennis coach.

“After this past weekend, we are still concerned, but we think we still have a shot at some success in the Ohio Valley Conference.”

“We need to avoid injuries of any kind if we are going to continue to play with only five players.”

The Skyhawks suffered a 7-0 setback against Louisville Sunday afternoon. With the win over the Skyhawks, Louisville recorded its seventh victory in eight matches.

The Skyhawk women will return to action Saturday, Feb. 22 when they travel to Clarksville for their first OVC match of the year against Austin Peay State University. Matches are set to begin at 10 a.m.