CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (2-6) travels to Springfield, Missouri, this weekend for a pair of duals to wrap up its non-conference slate. Southeast takes on Missouri State (3-6) Friday evening at 7 p.m. before facing Kansas City (1-6) Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be contested at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
The Redhawks most recently dropped a tough fought 5-2 decision to Bradley this past Friday in Peoria, Illinois, at The Clubs at River City. Three of the six singles matches necessitated a decisive third set to settle the contest.
Kseniya Zonova,
Romana Tarajova,
Vivian Lai and
Manuela Barriga each registered victories.
Tarajova and Zonova cruised past Sandra Maletin and Natalia Barbery, 6-2, to open the dual on the doubles side. The duo paces the Redhawks in 2020 with a 3-4 record at no. 1 singles.
Nina Marjanovic and Victoria Sánchez Bronzetti overcame Barriga and
Teona Velkoska, 7-5. Bozana Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz then fought past Lai and
Lera Valeeva in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (11-9), to secure the doubles point for the Braves.
In singles, Lai and Barriga both notched wins. Lai (3-2) beat Sánchez Bronzetti, 6-3, 6-4, to even the match at 1-1. Barriga (3-3) then concluded the dual with a victory at no. 6 singles. She bounced back from an opening setback to defeat Marjanovic, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
In the other Redhawks singles matches, Lojpur held off Tarajova's late rally at no. 2 singles, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Maletin overcame Zonova, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), at the top spot to extend Bradley's lead to 3-1. Perlwitz beat Velkoska in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, before Valeeva was overcome by Barbery 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3.
Missouri State most recently edged Saint Louis, 4-3, last Friday. After securing the doubles point, the Bears tallied victories in the No. 6, 3, and 1 positions. No. 6 Mara Presot began singles with a straight-set 6-1, 6-4 win, marking her first for this spring campaign. Taylor Shaw piled on another Bears' point in the third flight with a matching 6-1, 6-4 result while No. 1 Alye Darter concluded MSU's scoring efforts with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
Ellie Burger leads the Bears in 2020 with a 6-1 singles mark. Anna Alons and Alyson Piskulic top the doubles side with a 4-4 mark this season at the middle spot.
Southeast graduate assistant
Phoebe Boeschen played tennis at Missouri State and helped the Bears capture the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Tennis Championship. Boeschen graduated from Missouri State in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Middle School Mathematics.
Kansas City has compiled just one win during the 2020 dual season. The Roos bested Bradley, 5-2, on Feb. 8 for their lone victory this campaign.
Kansas City dropped a pair of matches to North Dakota and Drake this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. The Roos were overcome by North Dakota, 4-3, last Saturday before getting swept by Drake on Sunday.
Riddhi Sharma paces Kansas City in singles and doubles with identical 3-2 records. Sharma competes in doubles with Thanushree Vale at the no. 2 slot.
After this weekend in Springfield, Missouri, Southeast opens its Ohio Valley Conference slate on Friday, March 13 against UT Martin at 2 p.m. in Martin, Tennessee. The Redhawks then have a double weekend in Nashville, Tennessee, March 20 and 21 before hosting Austin Peay on March 27 at 1 p.m. at the Redhawks Tennis Complex.
