RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s tennis match against Austin Peay could have gone on much longer, but a pair of retirements led to a 4-3 victory for the visiting Governors. EKU wraps up the regular season 16-9 overall and 6-2 in the OVC.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a match like this,” EKU head coach Rob Oertel said. “I think we are very evenly matched with [the top two OVC teams] Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay. Hopefully we can prove that next weekend.”

The Colonels won the doubles point, but were only able to win two of the six singles matches. In a likely match to determine OVC Player of the Year, Austin Peay’s Sean Bailey downed senior Hugo Klientovsky in two tight sets.

The final outcome of the match came down to No. 4 and No. 5 singles. Austin Peay’s Michal Hriciste was forced to retire with cramps late in the third set at No. 5 singles to even the match at 3-all. However, just minutes later, senior Parul Verma suffered the same fate at the No. 4 spot as cramps forced him to retire.

Eastern Kentucky will be the No. 3 seed in next weekend’s OVC championships and play the No. 6 seed in the first round on Friday, April 20 in Nashville, Tenn.

Austin Peay 4, Eastern Kentucky 3

Singles
1. Sean Bailey (APSU) def. Hugo Klientovsky (EKU)   6-3, 6-4
2. Jasmin Ademovic (APSU) def. Niklas Schroeder (EKU)   2-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Dimitar Ristovski (APSU) def. Philip Janz (EKU)    6-2, 7-6 (4)
4. Aleksas Tverijonas (APSU) def. Parul Verma (EKU)    6-3, 3-6, 5-5 retired (injury)
5. Joao Maio (EKU) def. Michal Hriciste (APSU)     1-6, 6-1, 4-3 retired (injury)
6. Emilio Piriz (EKU) def. John Storie (APSU)    6-2, 6-4

Doubles
1. Klientovsky/Pons (EKU) def. Bailey/Ristovski (APSU)   8-6
2. Janz/Schroeder (EKU) def. Ademovic/Storie (APSU)   8-6
3. Hriciste/Seffrin (APSU) def. Dombrowski/Verma (EKU)  8-5

Match Notes: Eastern Kentucky (16-9, 6-2 OVC); Austin Peay (11-8, 6-1 OVC)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4*)