Women's tennis visits Midwest for two matches

Middle Tennessee women's tennis returns to the road this weekend with visits to Butler on Friday, Feb. 15 and at Miami (Ohio) on Sunday, Feb. 17. First serve for Friday's contest is slated for 3 p.m. at the Butler Bubble in Indianapolis, with Sunday's match set for 9 a.m. at the Riverside Athletic Club in Hamilton, Ohio.

Hoping to build on momentum, the Raiders (2-4) are coming off a 4-3 win versus UAB on Sunday. Middle Tennessee held a three point lead before the Blazers bounced back with a pair of points. Carla Nava's straight set win at the No. 5 position gave MT the win.

Nava was named the Sun Belt Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week after picking up wins in singles and doubles action. The redshirt senior holds a team-best 3-3 record in singles action this season.

Flavia Nagayama leads the Raiders with a 4-2 mark in singles action. All three doubles tandems have picked up two victories this season.

The Butler Bulldogs (2-7) have lost seven out of their last eight matches, including a 6-1 decision to Xavier on Wednesday. BU's two victories came in a 5-2 decision over Dayton and a 4-3 win versus Morehead State.

Caroline Hedrick leads Butler with a 3-5 mark in singles play. The Bulldogs have played nine different combinations of doubles in nine matches this season. Thursday's matchup is the first in school history for the two programs.

After Friday's match, MT travels to Miami (Ohio) for a Sunday morning affair. The RedHawks (2-5) have dropped three out of their last four matches. Most recently, MU fell 5-2 at Marshall on Sunday, Feb. 10.

Alix Thurman is Miami's top player, ranking 19th in the Ohio Valley Region. So far in the spring, Thurman holds a 3-4 record. She was 9-2 during tournament play in the fall.

The RedHawks and Blue Raiders meet for the fifth time and the first since 1998. MU holds a 3-1 edge in the series, with MT's lone victory coming in a 5-2 decision on Jan. 24, 1998.

After this weekend's matches, MT closes out the three-match trip with a visit to Austin Peay on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Results of each match will be available online at GoBlueRaiders.com.

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