Women's tennis team set for success after Tennessee tournament.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's women's tennis team is looking forward to play at the Steve Baras Fall Classic hosted by Tennessee-Chattanooga Friday, Sept. 21 through Sunday, Sept. 23 after a good week of practice.
"The three morning practices we've had since returning from Knoxville have been the best since I have been here. We are thrilled," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "As coaches we have known they are getting better. But if they lose in their minds it is still not quite as good as they think it can be."
Middle Tennessee will face teams from UAB, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State just to name a few.
"This weekend the competition won't be as tough. We went from being one of the bottom two teams to one of the top two teams at this tournament. We are looking to hopefully go in and just dominate the tournament," Ojeda said. "Everything looks good and this by far is one of the best falls we have ever had in terms of the way they are practicing, competing and off the court."
The Blue Raiders will look to expand upon their success at the St. Mary's Classic at the University of Tennessee last weekend.
In doubles last weekend, senior Ann-Kristin Siljestrom and junior Marlene Chemin defeated host Tennessee's Connor Vogel and Ghizela Schutt 8-4. The two then won their match with Yevgeniya Stupak and Olya Butsula of East Tennessee State 8-6.
In singles play, senior Ann-Kristin Siljestrom, juniors Marlene Chemin and Pooja Koomireddi and freshman Andrea Herrera all performed well. These four will help guide the Blue Raiders this weekend.
"We had a couple of huge wins last week. We beat almost all of ETSU's teams who we lost to a couple of years ago, had a huge win against Tennessee and had a few three set singles matches," Ojeda said. "I think they just have a lot more confidence and they are coming to practice with more confidence. I think they understand that in order to play at that level day in and day out you have to practice at that level day in and day out."
The tournament will take place at the Champion's Club tennis complex in Hixson, Tenn., and will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day with the finals taking place on Sunday.
The tournament will consist of three singles flights and two doubles flights. Admission is free for the entire weekend, and results will be available on www.goblueraiders.com as soon as it becomes available.
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