Thursday, February 20
Richmond, KY.
12 p.m.
Murray State
5
at
2
Eastern Kentucky
Racers Pick Up Momentum on the Road
2/24/2025 10:58:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Womens Tennis Goes 2-1 Over the Weekend
The Murray State Womens Tennis Team hit the road for three matches over the weekend. They faced Eastern Kentucky, Bellarmine, and Lipscomb. The Racers got two wins on the road after starting the season 1-5.
On Thursday, The Racers traveled to Richmond to play Eastern Kentucky. Murray State No. 1 doubles pair of Valeria Chaikovskaia and Bruna Melato had a hot start winning the first five games before capturing the 6-2 win to give the Racers a good lead in doubles. The Colonels of EKU went on to get a 6-3 win on the second court. All the attention went to No. 3 doubles where Varya Alexeyeva and Barbora Hermanova secured a 6-3 win giving the Racers the doubles point.
In singles action The Racers kept the momentum with strong starts from Chaikovskaia and Yuna Kadowaki. This duo dominated early, securing a strong lead in singles after winning a combined 18 matches. Kadowaki kept her momentum going and was able to secure the win and the second point for the Racers without dropping a game. Eastern Kentucky responded with a comeback on court one, forcing a second set, but Murray State's Alexeyeva got an advantage with a straight-set win on court two. Sophomore, Chaikovskaia clinched the overall victory with a gritty 7-6 third-set win, avenging last year's loss to Masha Fedenko. With the match secured, the Racers split the final two contests with Melato dominating in a straight-set victory, while Rebecca Widan fell in a hard-fought battle. This lead The Racers to start the weekend with a 5-2 win.
On Friday, The Navy & Gold were on the road in Louisville against Bellarmine. Murray State rallied to claim the doubles point after Chaikovskaia and Melato fell 6-2. The No. 2 duo of Kikawa and Kadowaki staged a comeback from being down 4-1, winning five straight games to keep The Racers in contention. Alexeyeva and Campigotto sealed the point, playing their best tennis, dominating the tiebreak to secure the doubles point.
With only three indoor courts available, singles play began with the top three match-ups, where Murray State took control. After a hard-fought battle, The Racers swept all three courts, securing the match victory. Chaikovskaia finished first with a straight sets victory for the 2-0 lead. Teammate Alexeyeva was not far behind with another win in straight sets. Yuna Kadowaki battled through a three-set thriller to secure the decisive fourth point. Freshman, Kikawa bounced back from Thursday's loss with an impressive performance, and Melato earned her second consecutive straight-sets victory, pushing the lead to 6-0. Despite winning the first set, Hermanova fell in a third-set tiebreaker to Bellarmine's Reese Parker. The Racers still claimed a 6-1 win, improving to 2-0 against the Knights.
In their final match for the weekend The Racers traveled back to Nashville on Saturday to play Lipscomb. It was a thrilling doubles match-up in Nashville as the Racers faced off against Lipscomb. The Bison held comfortable 4-2 leads on courts two and three, while Murray State held a 4-2 lead on court one. Lipscomb pulled away on court three for a 6-3 victory over the previously undefeated pair of Campigotto and Alexeyeva. The Racers battled back, taking a 5-4 lead on court two, but despite saving two match points on court two and one on court one, Lipscomb forced both matches into tiebreakers. Melato and Chaikovskaia lost 9-7 after having a match point, while Kadowaki and Kikawa saved four match points before the match was interrupted at 8-8, with Lipscomb securing the doubles point.
Lipscomb came out strong in singles, taking four of the first six sets and quickly putting the Racers in a 0-3 hole. Chaikovskaia and Kadowaki, who had previously gone undefeated on the weekend, fell to staright-set losses. Freshman Kikawa provided a spark with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4, while Alexeyeva and Widan battled into third sets. On court six, freshman Hermanova fought off three match points but couldn't hold on, sealing the win for Lipscomb. The Bison capitalized with two more third-set victories, closing out a 6-1 team win.
"This weekend could have only been more perfect had we won all 3 matches but we got exactly what we needed from our girls. We showed a lot of growth and resilience this weekend being able to bounce back when facing adversity and playing with some grit," said Head Coach, Jorge Caetano. "We have put a challenging schedule for a reason and weekends like this gives us the confidence we are on the right path to achieve our goals later in the season. I am very proud of the way we competed as we conclude the indoor part of our season and I am looking forward to some outdoor tennis which plays to the strength," added Caetano.
The Racers return to action on March 2nd in Conway, Arkansas in match-ups against Central Arkansas and Arkansas Tech.
For more information on the Murray State women's tennis program, visit GoRacers.com or follow @RacersWTennis on X and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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