Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
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UTEP
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
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#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,4,5,2,3,1
Players Mentioned
Middle Tennessee women’s tennis beats UTEP on Senior Day to cap off first undefeated season at home since 2015
4/16/2023 2:55:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —Following a tough trip to Birmingham, Alabama, yesterday, Middle Tennessee's women's tennis team showed up this morning to the Adams Tennis Complex with a bad taste in its' mouth. With just one match remaining in the regular season, the Blue Raiders needed desperately to come up with a win to preserve not only a winning season, but an undefeated record at home.
Thanks to a performance as sweet as the doughnuts the fans were treated to before the match, the Blue Raiders did just that by defeating the UTEP Miners 6-1 to finish the year 11-9 overall and 8-0 at home.
After missing yesterday's match with UTEP, Sana Garakani got back into the lineup for Middle Tennessee and provided a spark, pairing with Noelle Mauro to win 6-1 on doubles court two to get the day started.
Though they started the match down 2-0, Lilly-Sophie Schmidt and Cara Szilasi rallied to clinch the doubles point for the Blue Raiders by winning 6-3 as the third doubles pairing.
Mauro and Garakani picked right back up where they left off in doubles, with Mauro getting the singles point of the match for MTSU by winning 6-1, 6-3 on court four to set off five-straight points for the Blue Raiders in singles play, highlighted by Garakani's match-point on court two 6-2, 7-6 (3). Love-Star Alexis fought off two match-points in a third-set sudden death to ten to clinch it 6-7 (3), 6-3, 11-9.
Prior to the match, Middle Tennessee recognized seniors Muskan Gupta, Love-Star Alexis and Noelle Mauro for their accomplishments.
Gupta has racked up 89 overall wins and is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete recipient along with being awarded a C-USA Academic Medal twice in her career to pair with two C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll's. In the 2021 season, Gupta clinched the first-round victory against Southern Miss in the Conference USA tournament with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 win and is no stranger to coming up with clutch victories in her career, helping clinch the match point against opponents like Butler, Ball State, Chattanooga and WKU over her four years in blue.
Love-Star Alexis also hit 89 overall wins today with her win. The Montreal, Canada, native is a 2022 ITA Scholar-Athlete and helped the Blue Raiders get off to a good start in the 2021 Conference Tournament by pairing with Zani Barnard to get a huge doubles win on court one against Southern Miss in the first round of the conference tournament. Known for her speed and range, Alexis has achieved double digits in wins in singles play in all four seasons with Middle Tennessee with her win today on court one.
Noelle Mauro has taken a role as one of the leaders on the team this season and helped lead the Blue Raiders to one of their best starts to the season in the past decade, including an eight-match win streak that spanned from January 22nd to February 24th. Mauro is enjoying the most productive season of her time as a Blue Raider, with a career-high and team-high 12 singles wins so far including a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory on the road against No. 29 Wake Forest on court five.
Head Coach Tayo Bailey-Duvall
On the win to cap off an undefeated season at home: "Most of our home matches have been battles. We've always shown we can be tough, and especially mentally tough. Love-Star was down in two match points at the end and came back and won it. Here at home, the crowd and environment has been really great to play in. It's hard to beat us here."
On what this group of senior's has meant to her personally: "(The seniors) have grown so much. We've worked on so many things. They know I always say they have to be noticeably better every year, and they are, both on and off the court. I think it's so important that I can help mold them into being so much better girls when they go into the world. I think they can take a lot of what they've learned here and become better people."
Player's Perspective: Senior Noelle Mauro
On bouncing back from yesterday with wins in both doubles and singles vs. UTEP: "Starting off the day today, I was a little nervous. It's really emotional with it being my last match in the ATC with the girls. I was able to take that emotion and make it positive emotion going into doubles and singles and compete with my teammates."
On what her career at MTSU has meant to her: "(MTSU) means a lot to me, especially the support we get from our fans. It was really a surreal moment having the chance to live my dream of playing college tennis and be able to share the court with so many amazing girls has been a really great experience."
Senior Love-Star Alexis
On being able to stave off two match points for a hard-fought singles win: "When I looked at the other courts and saw the other seniors had won, I was like 'Oh my gosh, I can't be the only senior that doesn't win.' I often find myself in these situations, so I knew I could bounce back from being down. Once I saved those two match points, I knew I could win."
On what her career at MTSU has meant to her: "Of all the places I've ever played tennis, this is my favorite. The vibe is just awesome. We always know our fans are here to support us. This was my first experience playing with fans and it's meant a lot to be here these last four years and always know that every time we came out we were going to give 100% to the fans and our teammates."
Senior Muskan Gupta
On being able to get a singles point in her final match at home: "I would've cried whether I lost or won, but obviously it's better to cry happy tears from winning then sad tears from losing. It meant a lot to win, today. I wanted the team to win, first of all, but then I wanted to make sure all of us seniors were able to win and I'm glad we all did."
On what her career at MTSU has meant to her: "Our underclassmen made us some really nice gifts and (former teammate) Liliana (Danajlovski) flew all the way from Germany to come watch us. It's really emotional to think back on these last four years. I remember when I came here thinking about how four years was going to be so long and wondering how I was going to do this. I'm just glad we did well and can't believe it's done."
Doubles
1. Love-Star Alexis/ Muskan Gupta (MTSU) vs. Thassanne Abrahim/ Veronkia Lebisova (UTEP) 2-5 unf.
2. Noelle Mauro/ Sana Garakani (MTSU) def. Elena Dibattista/ Zuzanna Szczepanska (UTEP) 6-1
3. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt/ Cara Szilasi (MTSU) def. Eve Daniels/ Paloma Hennicaux (UTEP) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. Love-Star Alexis (MTSU) def. Veronika Lebisova (UTEP) 6-7 (3), 6-3, 11-9
2. Sana Garakani (MTSU) def. Zuzanna Szczepanska (UTEP) 6-2, 7-6 (3).
3. Muskan Gupta (MTSU) def. Thassane Abrahim (UTEP) 7-6 (7), 6-2
4. Noelle Mauro (MTSU) def. Elena Dibattista (UTEP) 6-1, 6-3
5. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt (MTSU) def. Eve Daniels (UTEP) 6-1, 6-4
6. Paloma Hennicaux (UTEP) def. Camila Barragan (MTSU) 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 4, 5, 2, 3, 1
UP NEXT
Middle Tennessee travels to Denton, Texas, for the Conference USA Championship Tournament beginning on April 20th. The tournament goes until April 23rd. Follow us on our social media channels below for updated tournament start times as they become available.
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.
