EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (13-4, 6-0 OVC) downed SIUE (9-7, 2-4 OVC), 5-2, Friday afternoon at the SIUE Tennis Courts to secure SEMO's first-ever Ohio Valley Conference tennis title in program history.

"I am tremendously proud of this group of women," head coach Mary Beth Gunn said post match. "They have played tough this whole semester in order to capture the Championship. We feel honored to be apart of SEMO Tennis history with capturing its first-ever OVC Championship."
 
SEMO improved to 6-0 in OVC play to claim the 2021 OVC Regular-Season Championship outright. The Redhawks previous conference-best finish was third in 1996.
 
SEMO's six OVC wins in 2021 matches the team's conference win total from both the 1996-97 (6-4) and 1992-93 (6-1) seasons.
 
The Redhawks have also earned the top seed in next weekend's 2021 OVC Tennis Championships held April 24-25 at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana. SEMO will face the fourth seed Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m., CT.
 
The Redhawks also extended their win-streak to nine matches with Friday's victory.
 
SEMO grabbed the doubles point for the ninth consecutive match to open its penultimate regular-season dual.
 
Ksenia Shikanova and Lera Valeeva beat Callaghan Adams and Jordan Schifano, 6-4, at no. 2 doubles to push the Russian duo's win streak to six and improve to 7-2 in 2021 (7-1 at no. 2).
 
Romana Tarajova and Kseniya Zonova then fought past Jill Lambrechts and Maria Thibault, 7-5, at the top slot to seal the point after SIUE took the third doubles match.
 
Tarajova and Zonova stayed perfect in league play (5-0) with their seventh-consecutive win as the top doubles team to improve to 9-2 in 2021.
 
Vanessa Reinicke and Caitlyn Sporing defeated Daniela Hlacikova and Teona Velkoska, 6-3, at the third position.
 
When the competition switched to singles, the Redhawks extended their advantage in the match with wins at the fifth and second lineup spots.
 
Vivian Lai overcame Melissa Vizcardo, 6-4, 6-2, at no. 5 for her ninth-straight win. Lai is now 13-3 in 2021 (6-0 in OVC) and 10-2 at the fifth position.
 
Hlacikova then posted her team-high 14th win of the season (14-1 in 2021) with a 6-4, 6-4 decision on Jill Lambrechts at the second position. Hlacikova, a freshman from Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, improved to 8-0 at no. 2 singles and 6-0 in league contests with the win.
 
SIUE then cut into the Redhawks lead, 3-1, at the last position. Adams beat Valeeva, 6-3, 6-3.
 
SEMO then secured the dual victory with wins at the first and fourth lineup spots.
 
Tarajova improved to 11-4 in 2021 (5-1 in OVC) and 7-3 at the top position after she overcame Reinicke, 6-4, 7-6.
 
Shikanova then posted her 10th win of the campaign (10-4, 5-1 OVC) when she battled past Fabiola Perez, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
 
Shikanova is 8-4 in 2021 at the fourth slot.
 
Jordan Schifano defeated Zonova, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7, at no. 3 singles to conclude the dual.
 
SEMO will wrap up its 2021 regular-season Saturday at Eastern Illinois. First serve is set for 11 a.m., CT at the Darling Courts.
 
After this weekend, the Redhawks will head to Evansville, Indiana, to compete at the 2021 OVC Tennis Championships as the top seed April 24-25 at the Wesselman Tennis Center. SEMO will face the fourth seed Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m., CT.