Tennis players honored

Southern Arkansas tennis players Yuri Gondouin and Lena Milosevic received Great American Conference recognitions last week for their efforts on the court.

The freshman Gondouin was named the GAC Male Tennis Player of the Week, while Milosevic earned the GAC’s Female Player of the Week honor.

Gondouin, a native of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, finished the Muleriders’ four matches at 6-0 after claiming three victories in singles competition; two from line three and one from line two, and three more in doubles action. The Frenchman’s individual victories came against William Jewell (def. Bjorn Myers 6-4, 6-0), Southern Indiana (def. Parker Collignon 6-2, 6-4), and Southeastern Oklahoma (def. Ondrej Nice 6-3, 5-7, 6-2). The latter victory proved a pivotal line three win for Southern Arkansas as the Muleriders handed the defending conference champion Savage Storm just its fifth loss in league play since 2012-13.

In doubles play, Gondouin teamed up with classmate and fellow countryman Alexandre Machaj and the duo logged wins over Dallas Baptist, Southern Indiana and Southeastern Oklahoma; a victory which enabled the Muleriders to grab an early lead in the match after winning the doubles point.

A native of Novi Sad, Serbia, Milosevic posted a 5-0 record in singles competition which included wins over Nebraska-Kearney (def. Claire Neil 6-3, 6-2), Arkansas Tech (def. Katie Harris 6-4, 6-4), William Jewell (def. Julia Yamate 6-0, 6-0), Dallas Baptist (def. Devon Austin-Canning 6-1, 6-2) and #17 Northeastern State (def. Melissa Vera 6-2, 6-1).

Milosevic joined classmate Serena Gill to post a doubles record of 4-2. The duo won their doubles match against the nationally-ranked RiverHawks to help the Lady Muleriders pick up their first win over a ranked opponent in the program’s Division II Era (1995-96). Milosevic and Gill were also instrumental in SAU winning its opening GAC match of the season as the pair defeated Southeastern Oklahoma’s Nina Sergeev and Elizabeth Tregubova 6-2 to help the Lady Muleriders claim the doubles point.

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