Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Sunday, January 22
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
11 AM
Middle Tennessee
4
vs
3
Austin Peay
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
TORREALBA, Denise / 0 [APSU]
33
66
#2 Singles Match
123
LEDER, Jana / 0 [APSU]
376
662
#3 Singles Match
12
HEFTI, Melody / 0 [APSU]
66
23
#4 Singles Match
123
CHENG, Yu-Hua / 0 [APSU]
736
567
#5 Singles Match
12
BARANOV, Sophia / 0 [APSU]
20
66
#6 Singles Match
12
FONTANA, Asia / 0 [APSU]
67
35
Order of Finish:
5,3,1,6,2,4
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Blue Raider women’s tennis team defeats Austin Peay 4-3 in a thrilling home opener
1/22/2023 3:29:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Murfreesboro, TENN. —Lilly-Sophie Schmidt's fight exemplified in front of a capacity crowd at the Adams Tennis Complex resulted in one of the most memorable wins for the Middle Tennessee women's tennis team's at the Adams Tennis Complex in the home opener against the Austin Peay Governors.
With all eyes on Schmidt, who was down 4-3 in her third frame on court four, the junior dug deep to pull out a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6, (7-5 tiebreak) win in a match-point situation to give Middle Tennessee a 4-3 win. After losing a tightly-contested first set, Schmidt got an important win in the second set to keep the Blue Raiders hopes alive after Austin Peay fought back to tie the overall match at 3-3 after being down 3-1 early in singles play.
The Schriesheim, Germany, native found herself on the ropes multiple times in the afternoon, digging deep one last time after being down 5-3 in her final tiebreak to take four straight points and secure the match.
Middle Tennessee started the match by earning a huge doubles point with Rutuja Chaphalkar and Love-Star Alexis taking a 6-3 win on court two while the Blue Raiders top doubles pairing of Noelle Mauro and Sana Garakani overcame a 3-2 deficit to win 6-3 on court one to claim the doubles point. After falling behind 5-0, Lilly Sophie Schmidt and Muskan Gupta kept their match alive over on three, winning four straight points to give the Blue Raiders some much needed momentum.
In singles play, Noelle Mauro followed up her first doubles victory of the season with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win on court five to give Middle Tennessee a 2-0 lead in the match. After falling on court three to give Austin Peay its' first point, Love-Star Alexis came up with a 6-3, 6-3 win on court one to put the Blue Raiders within one point of winning the match. Austin Peay's Asia Fontana and Jana Leder grinded out wins on court six and court two to knot things up in the third frame of Lilly-Sophie Schmidt's match before eventually falling after nearly four hours of action on Saturday afternoon.
Head Coach Tayo Bailey-Duvall
On the fight from the team: "I expect it. We had two close ones last week that we lost 4-3, and we had a lot of fight in those ones too. We're always looking for progress to improve the little things that can get us over that hump and change the tide and win these types of matches. They did well today and I'm proud of it.
On how far Lilly-Sophie Schmidt has come in her career: "She's come really far. As a junior, looking back on her freshman year, I think I'd be holding my breath even more than I was today in the situation she was in. She's very calm out there, which is a huge improvement because she used to get really excited and not take time to strategize in situations like that. We're all really impressed with her improvements."
On the little things the team did to win: "We won the doubles point today, and that's key. I can usually always count on at least three of the six girls to play solid in singles. We talked a lot about winning in doubles, so that was big. Another big thing is our upperclassmen playing well in both doubles and singles. That really helped shine through and helped us get the win today."
Player's Perspective: Junior Lilly-Sophie Schmidt
On her singles victory to win the match: "At first I was a bit frustrated. At 5-4, I could've brought myself through, but to be honest my legs were just so sore. Every step hurt. Then it got to 6-5 and the tiebreak, and I was really happy to get through that tiebreak because I first thought it might be over when I was down 5-6. As soon as I hit the point to make it five-all, I looked at Muskan (Gupta) and Noelle (Mauro) and the rest of the team and it really helped me feel secure. I was just so tired I was just thinking of whatever I could do to win."
On what she does mentally to finish when tired physically: "Thinking of the feeling that I had afterword when we finally won and the team is just running to you. The satisfaction of the whole team is just what really kept me going. As soon as I realized things came down to me, I told myself there was no way that I could lose. We all worked way too hard for this."
On winning such a thrilling match in front of the home crowd: "This was the biggest crowd we've had. I looked up during doubles and realized just how many fans were up there and thought that it might be a record crowd for women's tennis. I knew that if I could win my singles match, I figured with how things went today that fans will continue to come back. That was my mindset the whole time. I really hope that the fans continue to come back, because they really helped me to push through today.
Doubles
1. Noelle Mauro/Sana Garakani (MTSU) def. Melodi Hefti/ Jana Leder (APSU) 6-3
2. Love-Star Alexis/Rutuja Chaphalkar (MTSU) def. Denise Torrealba/Yu-Hua Cheng (APSU) 6-3
3. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt/ Muskan Gupta (MTSU) vs. Sophia Baranov/Lucy Lascheck (APSU) 4-5 unf.
Order of finish: (2,1)
Singles
1. Love-Star Alexis (MTSU) def. Denis Torrealba (APSU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Jana Leder (APSU) def. Sana Garakani 3-6, 7-6 (8-6 tiebreak), 6-2
3. Melody Hefti (APSU) def. Muskan Gupta (MTSU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt def. Yu-Hua Cheng 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreak)
5. Noelle Mauro (MTSU) def. Sophia Baranov (APSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Asia Fontana (APSU) def. Rutuja Chaphalkar (MTSU) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: (5,3,1,6,2,4)
UP NEXT
Middle Tennessee will host Georgia State this coming Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Adams Tennis Complex.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Be sure to follow @MT_WomensTennis on Twitter, @mt_womenstennis on Instagram, and Blue Raider Women's Tennis on Facebook for news and updates regarding everything Blue Raider women's tennis.
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With all eyes on Schmidt, who was down 4-3 in her third frame on court four, the junior dug deep to pull out a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6, (7-5 tiebreak) win in a match-point situation to give Middle Tennessee a 4-3 win. After losing a tightly-contested first set, Schmidt got an important win in the second set to keep the Blue Raiders hopes alive after Austin Peay fought back to tie the overall match at 3-3 after being down 3-1 early in singles play.
The Schriesheim, Germany, native found herself on the ropes multiple times in the afternoon, digging deep one last time after being down 5-3 in her final tiebreak to take four straight points and secure the match.
Middle Tennessee started the match by earning a huge doubles point with Rutuja Chaphalkar and Love-Star Alexis taking a 6-3 win on court two while the Blue Raiders top doubles pairing of Noelle Mauro and Sana Garakani overcame a 3-2 deficit to win 6-3 on court one to claim the doubles point. After falling behind 5-0, Lilly Sophie Schmidt and Muskan Gupta kept their match alive over on three, winning four straight points to give the Blue Raiders some much needed momentum.
In singles play, Noelle Mauro followed up her first doubles victory of the season with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win on court five to give Middle Tennessee a 2-0 lead in the match. After falling on court three to give Austin Peay its' first point, Love-Star Alexis came up with a 6-3, 6-3 win on court one to put the Blue Raiders within one point of winning the match. Austin Peay's Asia Fontana and Jana Leder grinded out wins on court six and court two to knot things up in the third frame of Lilly-Sophie Schmidt's match before eventually falling after nearly four hours of action on Saturday afternoon.
Head Coach Tayo Bailey-Duvall
On the fight from the team: "I expect it. We had two close ones last week that we lost 4-3, and we had a lot of fight in those ones too. We're always looking for progress to improve the little things that can get us over that hump and change the tide and win these types of matches. They did well today and I'm proud of it.
On how far Lilly-Sophie Schmidt has come in her career: "She's come really far. As a junior, looking back on her freshman year, I think I'd be holding my breath even more than I was today in the situation she was in. She's very calm out there, which is a huge improvement because she used to get really excited and not take time to strategize in situations like that. We're all really impressed with her improvements."
On the little things the team did to win: "We won the doubles point today, and that's key. I can usually always count on at least three of the six girls to play solid in singles. We talked a lot about winning in doubles, so that was big. Another big thing is our upperclassmen playing well in both doubles and singles. That really helped shine through and helped us get the win today."
Player's Perspective: Junior Lilly-Sophie Schmidt
On her singles victory to win the match: "At first I was a bit frustrated. At 5-4, I could've brought myself through, but to be honest my legs were just so sore. Every step hurt. Then it got to 6-5 and the tiebreak, and I was really happy to get through that tiebreak because I first thought it might be over when I was down 5-6. As soon as I hit the point to make it five-all, I looked at Muskan (Gupta) and Noelle (Mauro) and the rest of the team and it really helped me feel secure. I was just so tired I was just thinking of whatever I could do to win."
On what she does mentally to finish when tired physically: "Thinking of the feeling that I had afterword when we finally won and the team is just running to you. The satisfaction of the whole team is just what really kept me going. As soon as I realized things came down to me, I told myself there was no way that I could lose. We all worked way too hard for this."
On winning such a thrilling match in front of the home crowd: "This was the biggest crowd we've had. I looked up during doubles and realized just how many fans were up there and thought that it might be a record crowd for women's tennis. I knew that if I could win my singles match, I figured with how things went today that fans will continue to come back. That was my mindset the whole time. I really hope that the fans continue to come back, because they really helped me to push through today.
Doubles
1. Noelle Mauro/Sana Garakani (MTSU) def. Melodi Hefti/ Jana Leder (APSU) 6-3
2. Love-Star Alexis/Rutuja Chaphalkar (MTSU) def. Denise Torrealba/Yu-Hua Cheng (APSU) 6-3
3. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt/ Muskan Gupta (MTSU) vs. Sophia Baranov/Lucy Lascheck (APSU) 4-5 unf.
Order of finish: (2,1)
Singles
1. Love-Star Alexis (MTSU) def. Denis Torrealba (APSU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Jana Leder (APSU) def. Sana Garakani 3-6, 7-6 (8-6 tiebreak), 6-2
3. Melody Hefti (APSU) def. Muskan Gupta (MTSU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt def. Yu-Hua Cheng 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreak)
5. Noelle Mauro (MTSU) def. Sophia Baranov (APSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Asia Fontana (APSU) def. Rutuja Chaphalkar (MTSU) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: (5,3,1,6,2,4)
UP NEXT
Middle Tennessee will host Georgia State this coming Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Adams Tennis Complex.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Be sure to follow @MT_WomensTennis on Twitter, @mt_womenstennis on Instagram, and Blue Raider Women's Tennis on Facebook for news and updates regarding everything Blue Raider women's tennis.
Print Friendly Version
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