CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (8-5, 1-0) continues its Ohio Valley Conference slate this weekend with a pair of meets against Belmont (7-6, 0-1) and Tennessee State (5-8, 0-2).
Southeast takes on Belmont Saturday at 11 a.m. at the McCracken County Indoor Tennis Center in Paducah, Kentucky. The dual with Belmont was moved to an indoor location due to inclement weather in the forecast for Saturday.
SEMO then hosts Tennessee State Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. Sunday's meet was rescheduled from Friday because of inclement weather.
The Redhawks enter this weekend's competition after earning their first conference win of 2019 in its home opener against UT Martin on Friday, March 22. The Redhawks captured their first victory over the Skyhawks in 20 years with a 5-2 decision.
Southeast won the doubles point to start the dual with victories at the second and first positions.
Teona Velkoska and
Isabella Krupa overcame Daphne Pratt and Mizuki Sakurai, 6-3, for the duos 10th victory in 2019. Velkoska and Krupa lead the Redhawks this campaign with a 10-3 record at the no. 2 position.
Kseniya Zonova and
Sneha Sinha fought past Jemima Potter and Asel Jumamukhambetova, 7-6 (8), to clinch the doubles point for SEMO and extend their win streak to four in 2019.
Velkoska then grabbed a singles win with a 7-6, 6-2 decision on Andrea Plantada for her third straight victory.
Zonova rebounded after dropping the first set to defeat Potter, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, at the second position. The no. 6 player in the 2019 OVC Women's Tennis Preseason Player Top 10, improved to 8-4 this season with her sixth consecutive win.
Sinha claimed the Redhawks victory at no. 6 singles when she won her sixth consecutive dual match of the campaign 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 over Sakurai. Krupa also defeated Pratt, 7-6, 2-6, 6-7 at third singles to close out the meet.
Belmont was selected sixth in the league's preseason order of finish and currently possesses a 7-6 mark (0-1 OVC) after dropping its OVC opener to Murray State, 6-1, last Sunday. The Bruins face UT Martin Friday in Martin, Tennessee, at 2 p.m. before meeting SEMO Saturday.
Peyton Lee has a team-best 8-5 singles record (4-4 at no. 2, 4-1 at no. 3). Maria Plaksina and Terra Sheldon are the top Belmont doubles team with a 7-1 dual mark (5-1 at no. 3). Erin Allen and Lauren Carelli have a 6-3 record at the middle doubles slot.
Tennessee State was pegged to finish ninth in the OVC preseason poll. The Tigers have an overall record of 5-8 and dropped their opening two conference meets against Murray State and Austin Peay. TSU was swept 7-0 by both Murray State and Austin Peay this past weekend and dropped a tight meet, 4-3, to Alabama A&M. Aarushi Kakkar paces Tennessee State with a 7-3 dual record (5-2 at #1 singles).
Southeast next hits the road for three straight dual meets. The Redhawks head to Clarksville, Tennessee, to face Austin Peay on Friday, April 5 at 1:30 p.m. before taking on Murray State in Murray, Kentucky, on Saturday, April 6 at noon. SEMO competes against Jacksonville State in its final regular season road meet on Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. in Jacksonville, Alabama.
