CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (9-9, 2-4 OVC) hosts SIUE (6-12, 1-5 OVC) and Eastern Illinois (11-9, 2-4 OVC) Friday and Saturday to wrap up the 2019 regular season. Southeast faces SIUE Friday at 10 a.m. at the McCracken County High School Tennis Indoor Facility in Paducah, Kentucky, and then takes on Eastern Illinois Saturday at noon at the Redhawks Tennis Complex.
The Redhawks will recognize seniors
Anais Emelie and
Isabella Krupa for their careers at Southeast Saturday at the conclusion of the dual with EIU. Saturday's match will also feature a free cookout.
SEMO enters the weekend tied with EIU for fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 2-4 mark. The top six teams in the league will compete at the 2019 OVC Women's Tennis Championships April 26-28 at the Centennial Sportsplex Tennis Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Southeast most recently split its pair of OVC dual matches this past week. SEMO swept Tennessee State last Thursday, 7-0, at the McCracken County High School Tennis Indoor Facility before the Redhawks were edged at Jacksonville State, 4-3, this past Saturday.
SEMO registered its fifth sweep in 2019 and first in OVC play against Tennessee State.
Isabella Krupa and
Teona Velkoska ousted Aarushi Kakkar and Morgan Cage, 6-1, for their second straight victory at the top position and 13th win in 2019. The duo ranks fifth in Southeast's program history for best single season doubles record and are tied for sixth all-time for most doubles wins in a single season with a 13-5 mark.
Romana Tarajova and
Manuela Barriga also notched a doubles victory over TSU and are 7-4 at the third position this campaign.
Tarajova,
Kseniya Zonova, Krupa, Velkoska,
Sneha Sinha and Barriga all had singles wins in the sweep over TSU.
Last Saturday, Tarajova, Zonova and Velkoska posted singles victories at Jacksonville State.
Tarajova, a freshman from Dolný Kubín, Slovakia, leads the Redhawks in 2019 with an 11-4 mark and has won her last three dual matches at no. 1 singles. Zonova has compiled an 11-6 record this season at the second position.
Velkoska and Barriga also head into the weekend on three-match winning streaks.
SIUE is tied for seventh in the league with a 1-5 mark in OVC play. The Cougars most recently were swept by Austin Peay, 7-0, last Saturday after falling to Murray State, 5-2, last Friday. SIUE earned its lone conference win over Tennessee State, 7-0, on April 5 but have also dropped decisions to Jacksonville State, EIU and Belmont.
Alina Munteanu leads the Cougars in 2019 with a 10-6 dual record (10-5 at no. 1 singles). Lara Tupper has a 9-4 mark at the second position.
Eastern Illinois has tallied an 11-9 overall mark this season, with a 2-4 OVC record which is tied for fifth with SEMO in the league. The Panthers fell to Murray State, 1-6, the prior Saturday after being swept by Austin Peay last Friday. EIU has notched conference wins over SIUE on March 26 and TSU on April 6.
Rachel Papavasilopoulos, the no. 5 ranked player in the OVC Preseason Player Top 10, paces the Panthers with a 17-3 dual record at the top singles slot. Srishti Slaria is second on the team with a 13-7 mark at no. 2 singles. Together, Papavasilopoulos and Slaria have combined for an 11-2 record at the top doubles position.
Southeast will next await the weekend's results to find out its seed in the 2019 OVC Women's Tennis Championships April 26-28 at the Centennial Sportsplex Tennis Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
