Coffey lifts Middle Tennessee past Troy in key road match

TROY, Ala. – Senior Taylor Coffey scored the decisive point in a close, hard-fought match Friday afternoon, giving Middle Tennessee a 4-3 victory at Troy in women’s tennis action in Troy, Ala. The Blue Raiders used a split in singles action and the doubles point to pull out the triumph.

The win improves Middle Tennessee’s record to 14-5, the most wins for the program since 2000, its last season competing in the Ohio Valley.

Doubles action was a hard-fought battle that came down to the clinching point at the No. 1 position. Junior Lexi Brand and freshman Nayara Moraes needed an extra game to pick up their victory, but the pair prevailed 9-7 over the No. 89-ranked Trojan duo of Lyubov Dorofeeva and Karoline Grymel, the current Sun Belt Player of the Week.

The other Blue Raider doubles triumph was at the No. 2 spot, as senior Marietta Bigus and junior Yuiri Nomoto handed Samya El Hsissen and Gabriella Veiga an 8-5 setback.

Singles play saw four of the half-dozen contests go the distance, but Middle Tennessee was able to garner an even split with Coffey’s three-set battle at the No. 6 slot proving to be the winner and giving MT a split in the all-time series with Troy (10-8).

Coffey won her first set, dropped a close tiebreaker in the second before responding with a strong showing in the third to knock off Rosaura Ramirez-Vega 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

Bigus also was stretched to the limit but after falling in the opening set, she answered with back-to-back set victories for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 triumph against El Hsissen during the No. 5 meeting.

Brand picked up the other Middle Tennessee singles win, needing only straight sets to dispose of Dorofeeva 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 position.

The Blue Raiders will remain in Troy for another match when they square off against No. 67 North Texas at Noon Saturday in the final regular-season contest of the campaign.

Middle Tennessee 4, Troy 3

Singles
No. 1 Karoline Grymel (TROY) def. Yuiri Nomoto (MT) 7-5, 3-6, 6-0
No. 2 Lexi Brand (MT) def. Lyubov Dorofeeva (TROY) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 Olfa Dhaoui (TROY) def. Flavia Nagayama (MT) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Candela Munoz Giron (TROY) def. Nayara Moraes (MT) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
No. 5 Marietta Bigus (MT) def. Samya El Hsissen (TROY) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Taylor Coffey (MT) def. Rosaura Ramirez-Vega (TROY) 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-2

Doubles
No. 1 Brand/Moraes (MT) def. #89 Dorofeeva/Grymel (TROY) 9-7
No. 2 Bigus/Nomoto (MT) def. El Hsissen/Gabriella Veiga (TROY) 8-5
No. 3 Giron/Dhaoui (TROY) def. Alex Dachos/Nagayama (MT) 8-4

Friend of the Blue Raiders? Like us on Facebook and become part of the True Blue army today.