Austin Peay State University women's tennis team host Evansville, 5 p.m., Friday, at the Governors Indoor Tennis Center.

The Lady Govs have been tested by a pair of nationally recognized programs in Vanderbilt and Memphis to open the season. With a young and relatively new team, head coach Malik Tabet knows the experience needed to improve only comes through playing matches.

"This will be a good match for us," Tabet said. "Evansville is a quality program and we hope to be able to establish a bit of rivalry with them over the coming years. This year we want to make a statement."

While the season also is young, Tabet was impressed with the Lady Govs against Memphis. On the double side, senior Vanja Tomic and freshman Alison Carre played a close match with Memphis' 41st-ranked No. 1 doubles team of Alyssa Hibberd and Tiffany Welcher. Tomic and Carre had several match-point situations before falling 8-7.

Tomic would go on to play a three-set match at No. 1 singles against Courtney Collins, while Carre also played a strong No. 2 singles match. Three other freshmen - Ornella Di Salvo, Weronika Kurka and Vanessa Tavarez - make up Nos. 3, 4 and 5, while sophomore Andra Cornea plays at No. 6.

"We're still working on getting our strategies together," Tabet said. "They're all doing really well with technique; we just have to shape them a little more to play the type of tennis we're looking for. I like our lineup. In particular, Vanja and Allison have meshed well in doubles."

Evansville will be playing in its season opener, Friday. The Purple Aces bring in four freshmen along with four returning players from a team that finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference, last season. Freshman Natasha James finished second in her flight at the State Farm MVC Individual Championships, last fall, while senior Dora Kotsiou finished fourth.