CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The KSU women's tennis team will face off with several schools this weekend as it travels to the campus of Austin Peay State University to participate in their fall invitational.  Four Owls will make the trip to Clarksville to face off with the host team, as well as Belmont, Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, SIU-Edwardsville, and Eastern Illinois.

First up for the Owls on Friday will be doubles competition, where the Owls will be led by the duo of Vera Shkundina and Ayano Tanaka.  The pair is coming off of a successful weekend at the USC Upstate Fall Classic, where they advanced to the semifinal round of the top flight.  They open play on Friday afternoon with a matchup against Anastacia Simons and Anita Lee of Southern Illinois.

In the "B" doubles flight, the Owl pairing of Agatha Palider and Mackenzie Swindall will match up with Amanda Miller and Joanna Corkern of SIU-Edwardsville.  This will mark the doubles debut for Swindall, who a week ago went undefeated to capture the "C" singles draw in Spartansburg, S.C.

"We're hoping for big things out of the doubles this weekend," commented head coach Brandon Padgett. "We have focused a lot of energy on improving in doubles, and our first tournament showed we were on the right track."

On Saturday, the singles competition gets underway, with Shkundina and Tanaka competing in the "A" draw, Swindall in the "B" draw, and Palider competing for the Owls in the "C" draw.  Shkundina, coming off a semifinal showing in the top flight at USC Upstate, faces off with Katrina Vucina of Western Kentucky.  Tanaka will take on A-Sun rival Abby Hogan of Belmont, who picked up one of Belmont's two victories against the Owls last spring.  Swindall hopes to keep her winning streak in singles alive with an opening round match with McKinley Mason of Western Kentucky.  Palider will be the third Owl to take on a HIlltopper, as she opens play against an opponent from WKU as well.

"Last season, singles was our strength," continued Padgett.  "We are confident that we can continue that trend at this tournament and bring home some titles."

Daily updates will be available at www.ksuowls.com.  Play begins at 3:00 p.m. today.