CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (2-3) competes in the 2019 Redbird Invitational Saturday and Sunday at the Bloomington Tennis Center in Normal, Illinois.
The Redhawks open the invite against Toledo of the Mid-American Conference Saturday at 2 p.m. Creighton and host Illinois State round out the four-team tournament field.
The third place match will be on Sunday at 9 a.m. followed by the championship match at 12:30 p.m.
Southeast enters the weekend's invitational after earning its first two victories of the 2019 dual season last Sunday at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Missouri.
SEMO registered back-to-back 4-0 sweeps of Nebraska-Omaha (3-7) and Missouri State (4-1) in consecutive dual meets.
Kseniya Zonova who was selected sixth in the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Player Top 10 poll was named OVC Co-Female Athlete of the Week Wednesday after posting a perfect 3-0 record with wins over UNO and Missouri State.
She beat Janelle Wilson of Nebraska-Omaha, 6-3, 6-3, in her morning match and then utilized a tiebreak to beat Missouri State's Fati Khamissi, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2, Sunday afternoon.
Zonova also picked up a doubles win with
Sneha Sinha on Sunday. Zonova and Sinha defeated Anna Alons and Ellie Burger of Missouri State, 6-3, Sunday afternoon.
The Redhawks earned back-to-back doubles points against Nebraska-Omaha and MSU for their third straight dual.
Sinha registered her first career dual singles victory, ousting UNO's Clare Crockett, 6-1, 6-1, at the sixth slot.
Romana Tarajova leads the Redhawks with a 3-1 dual singles record at the top slot. She picked up a victory over Missouri State's Alye Darter last Sunday.
Teona Velkoska evened her dual singles mark at 2-2 with a win on Emily Behling of UNO.
Isabella Krupa and Velkoska pace Southeast in doubles with a 4-1 mark at the second position. The duo earned a pair of victories last Sunday.
Illinois State is 6-3 in the early dual season, starting the campaign with a five dual winning streak. The Redbirds defeated Murray State last Sunday with a 4-1 decision.
Toledo boasts a 5-1 mark in 2019 and most recently overcame Youngstown State, 4-3, last Friday.
Creighton holds a 2-4 record this dual season and was swept by Wichita State last Sunday.
Southeast next hosts a pair of duals on Saturday, March 2 and Monday, March 4. The Redhawks face Bradley at the McCracken County High School Tennis Indoor Facility in Paducah, Kentucky, on Saturday, March 2 at 8:30 a.m. SEMO then takes on Louisiana Tech on Monday, March 4 at 2 p.m. at the Redhawks Tennis Complex.
