Middle Tennessee Falls 4-3 at Austin Peay

Thursday, February 26

Clarksville, TN

1 p.m

Middle Tennessee

Austin Peay State University

2/26/2026 5:32:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Edly Termilien / MTSU Athletic Communications

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee dropped a 4-3 decision at Austin Peay on Thursday afternoon.

In the doubles matches, junior Lena Peyer and senior Zenn Lim faced Sophia Baranov and Clemence Butavand on court three, resulting in a loss of 6-1. After Austin Peay established a quick 3-0 lead, the Blue Raiders managed to break back but were unable to overcome the deficit.

On court two, senior Rutuja Chaphalkar and freshman Sthefany Lima secured a victory against Pauline Bruns and Elena Thiel with a score of 6-2. The Blue Raiders maintained their lead throughout the match, although Austin Peay did break twice to close the gap to 3-2. MTSU then extended their advantage with a 3-game run to conclude the match.

Clinched doubles point came on court one with Austin Peay's Luca Bohlen and Yi-Ching Huang beats sophomore Sara Conde and freshman Zora Koenig with a score of 7-6 (9-7). The Governors jumped to a quick 3-0 lead, but the blue raiders broke back to make it 4-2, tying it up at 4-4 later. The Blue raiders briefly led at 5-4, but Austin Peay equalized at 5-5 and ultimately won the tiebreaker 9-7.

In the singles matches, Peyer defeated Baranov with a score of 6-3, 6-1. During the first set, Peyer took the lead at 3-2, maintained it at 4-3, and then won two games to secure the set. In the second set, she led 2-1 before going on a four-game streak to earn the first match point for MTSU, tying the match score at 1-1.

Junior Sadbaroy Kholdarova won against Alice Bolton on court six, with a score of 6-2, 6-2. In the opening set, Bolton closed the gap 3-2, but Kholdarova responded with a three-game run to win the set. Bolton led the second set 1-0, but Kholdarova then won five games in a row. Bolton was able to break Kholdarova's serve at 5-2, but Kholdarova quickly won the next game. MTSU took a 2-1 lead in the match score.

Lim faced a defeat against Thiel on court five, with a score of 6-2, 6-1. In the first set, Lim managed to close the score to 2-3, but Thiel then went on to win three straight games. Lim managed to break Thiel's serve once in the second set but was unable to make a comeback which made the match score tied 2-2.

Lima lost to Yi-Ching with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 2-6 on court two. In the first set, Lima tried to closing the gap 3-5, but it didn't work out. She made a strong comeback in the second set, starting down 1-2, then closing the gap to 3-4 and tying it at 4-4. She went on to win two games in a row. However, the third set was similar to the first where Lima broke serve twice to get to 2-4, but that wasn't enough, which allowed Austin Peay to take the lead at 3-2.

Austin Peay secured the match when Koenig lost to Butavand with a score of 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7 on court three. In the first set, Koenig attempted to narrow the score to 2-4, but Butavand won the following two games. In the second set, Koenig did not take the lead until the tiebreaker, where he won with a score of 7-5. Koenig was ahead 4-2 in the third set until Butavand broke back, winning three games and taking a 5-4 lead. Koenig equalized at 5-5, but Austin Peay secured the match at 4-2.

In singles play, Conde defeated Bruns on court four with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. In the first set, Conde established a 5–0 lead before Bruns responded by breaking serve three times to close the gap to 5-3, but Conde won the next game to take the first set. Conde lost the second set 5-7, which included two ties. They were tied at 5-5 before Bruns won the next three games. In the third set, Conde was down 1 – 2 but fought back to tie it at 2-2, then maintained the lead and the match at 5-5 before winning the final two games 7-5.

UP NEXT:
Middle Tennessee will host Bellarmine on Saturday at 4 p.m.

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