CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's tennis (8-4, 1-0 OVC) will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday to face Belmont (3-5, 0-1 OVC). Doubles will open the dual at 3 p.m., CT at the Belmont Tennis Complex.
SEMO's match with the Bruins, originally scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, was pushed back to 3 p.m., CT due to inclement weather in the Nashville, Tennessee, area.
SEMO is currently riding a four-match win streak entering the weekend and most recently grounded UT Martin, 6-1, in the Redhawks Ohio Valley Conference opener on March 21.
Romana Tarajova,
Kseniya Zonova and
Lera Valeeva each registered a pair of wins in both the singles and doubles competitions in Martin, Tennessee.
Ksenia Shikanova (doubles),
Daniela Hlacikova (singles) and
Vivian Lai (singles) also had match wins in the conference dual.
SEMO claimed the doubles point to open the dual with wins at the second and first positions. Shikanova and Valeeva bested Aziza Aubin and Ariadna Ondo, 6-0, before Tarajova and Zonova defeated Amelia Campbell and Jule Streif, 6-4. Both SEMO's doubles teams extended its win streaks to three with the victories.
When the competition shifted to singles, SEMO rattled off wins at the fifth, third, second, sixth and first slots.
Vivian Lai defeated Mizuki Sakurai, 6-1, 6-2, for her fourth straight victory in 2021.
Zonova beat Aubin with ease, 6-3, 6-3, to halt a four-match losing skid.
Hlacikova then overcame Streif, 7-5, 6-4, to improve to 9-1 in 2021 with her first career OVC win.
Valeeva beat Ondo, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
At the top position, Tarajova who was named to the 2021 OVC Preseason Team, edged Campbell, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. The win was Tarajova's third straight this season.
The SEMO doubles team of Zonova and Velkoska are ranked 71st in the current 2021 Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Women's Rankings. The tandem is the first pair of Redhawks in program history to be ranked nationally for doubles.
Zonova and Velkoska have fashioned a 1-2 doubles record in 2021 including a season-opening victory over Missouri's top doubles team. The Redhawks duo bested current #55-ranked doubles team Bronte Murgett and Marta Oliveira (6-5 in 2021) of Missouri to open the 2021 campaign on Jan. 24.
Belmont most recently dropped a 5-2 decision to Murray State on March 20 to open OVC play at the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts in Murray, Kentucky.
After dropping the doubles point, the Bruins earned singles wins at the first and second slots. Somer Henry beat Sara Loncarevic, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8), and Peyton Lee overcame Sarah Bureau, 6-2, 7-5.
Belmont was selected to finish fifth in the OVC in 2021. The Bruins will face UT Martin Friday at 3:30 p.m., prior to Saturday's contest with SEMO.
SEMO will next host Austin Peay and Murray State at the Redhawks Tennis Complex on April 2 and April 3. First service is set for 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., CT at the pair of home duals.
