The Austin Peay State University women’s tennis team, for the ASUN Conference, met Arkansas today, and now its time for Jacksonville State. The Governors begin their two-game journey with an 11:00am Thursday game against Central Arkansas at the UCA Tennis Courts in Conway Arkansas before facing Jacksonville State at 1:00pm Saturday at the JSU Tennis Courts in Jacksonville, Alabama.
Thursday’s game is the sixth meeting all-time between Austin Peay State University and Central Arkansas, with the Govs leading the series all-time, 3-2. The Sugar Bears defeated APSU, 6-1 this past January, ending a three game losing streak against the Govs.
Cheng earned the Governors’ only point in the loss after grabbing a straight win from No. 1 singles ground. Central Arkansas is ranked eighth in the ASUN standings at 13-5, 3-3 ASUN and has won three games in a row after opening the game ASUN 1-3.
After the game against Central Arkansas, the APSU Governors face longtime rival Jacksonville State for the penultimate game of the regular season. Austin Peay State University is 4-12 against its former Ohio Valley Conference rival since 2005, but has won three of its last five meetings since 2016.
The Gamecocks are half a game behind the Govs in the ASUN standings at 4-3 in the league after dripping three straight races. As reported by the APSU website, Austin Peay is currently tied for fourth place in the ASUN Conference after splitting a pair of games last week against Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast.
APSU earned a 4-3 victory against the previously undefeated Hatters, before losing just their second game since mid-February in a 4-3 decision against #75 Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday. Freshman Sophia Baranov leads the APSU in singles this spring with a 15-2 record, including a 5-1 mark in the ASUN.
The Almaty, Kazakhstan native ended a 15-game hitting streak after a three-set match against FGCU. The streak is the longest by a freshman in program history and the top 10 streak by any student-athlete in program history. Jana Leder and Melody Hefti are runners-up on the team with 14 singles wins this season.
Leder is 10-3 from No. 1 this season and 4-2 in Conference action, while Hefti is 13-3 from No. 1 singles range. 3 and scores 5-1 in the ASUN game. Leder and Hefti also beat the Governors’ doubles units with a 13-4 record while playing the No.
1 position exclusively. The dup has won a team-best three straight and eight of their last 10. Baranov and Denise Torrealba are second among APSU tandems with an 8-3 mark after winning seven of their last 10, while Yu-Hua Cheng and Asia Fontana anchor APSU in doubles with a 5-2 record and 4-1 in ASUN action.
