Tennis set for Sunday two venue day-night doubleheader

The Marshall University women’s tennis team has faced tough competition all season and has succeeded. The team with a 10-8 record has defeated the likes of Kentucky, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech and Penn State this season.

However, Sunday the team faces a new type of challenge: a day-night doubleheader. Sunday, the team travels to Richmond, Kentucky for a competition against the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky University, with first serve set for 10 a.m. The team will then head home and square off with West Virginia State at 7 p.m.

“It’s always tough to play at the end of the semester,” senior Anna Pomyatinskaya said. “You want to push yourself as hard as you can. Both teams we play this weekend are not easy, but it’s nice to have a home game finally. It will senior night so we are excited to see a lot of people come support us.”

The seniors will be recognized at the match Sunday night against West Virginia State, with the match being the final home contest for the team. The team will honor seniors Rachael Morales and Derya Turhan along with Pomyatinskaya.

“Our seniors Derya, Rachael, and Anna are the ones with the experience and who have been through this part of the season now three times,” head coach John Mercer said. “They know what it’s all about and I think they will show good leadership down at the end here.”

Following Sunday, the tennis team only has two matches remaining before the Conference USA Championships beginning on April 20 hosted by North Texas. The team will travel to Houston, Texas for matches against South Florida and Rice on April 8 and 9 respectively. This will present the team with time to condition and mentally prepare for the Conference USA Championships.

Last season the team defeated Florida Atlantic in the first round of the conference championships before falling to Old Dominion in the quarterfinals.

“We keep trying to get better as a team,” Mercer said. “We’re working a lot on our doubles. Overall, we’re trying to get our fitness going. We have a little break in the schedule, with not too many matches over a short period of time for the first time this year. That will give us a little time to work on our conditioning and fitness, and to mentally get ready for the conference championships.”

Sunday night’s match will take place at the Fox Tennis Center on Marshall’s campus barring inclement weather.

Patrick O’Leary can be contacted at [email protected].