CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Top-seeded Southeast Missouri women's tennis (14-4) will take on #4 Jacksonville State (9-9) Saturday afternoon in the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Semifinals. The semifinals matchup will commence at 3 p.m., CT at the Evansville Tennis Center (indoors) in Evansville, Indiana.
Due to the threat of inclement weather in Evansville, Indiana, SEMO's match has been moved indoors to the Evansville Tennis Center from the outdoors Wesselman Tennis Center.
SEMO earned the #1 seed after it captured the 2021 OVC Regular-Season title with a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play. The title was the first in Redhawks program history after the team completed their OVC slate without a blemish, closing the schedule with wins at SIUE and Eastern Illinois this past weekend.
The Redhawks 14 wins in 2021 is their highest win total in 28 years as the 1993 SEMO team finished the season with a mark of 17-6 (6-1 OVC).
The Redhawks will make their 13th OVC Tournament appearance this weekend at the Evansville Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana.
2021 marks the first year the Tournament has been held in Evansville, Indiana.
The Championship will be contested for the 45th time (it was first held in 1977) in 2021.
SEMO has won the doubles point in ever conference dual this season and has jumped out to a 1-0 start in 14 of its 18 matches in 2021.
In 2021, the Redhawks are 14-3 in doubles matches against OVC opponents.
The top doubles team of
Romana Tarajova and
Kseniya Zonova was perfect in league play with a 6-0 mark. The duo is 10-2 overall in 2021 and are currently on an eight-match win streak, playing exclusively at the no. 1 lineup slot.
Ksenia Shikanova and
Lera Valeeva have teamed up for a 4-1 mark at second doubles in OVC action. The Russian squad is 7-2 overall in 2021 at the no. 2 spot.
The third doubles team of
Daniela Hlacikova and
Teona Velkoska posted an OVC mark of 4-2 and are 7-2 overall this season (6-2 at no. 3 doubles).
In singles, the Redhawks have four players with double-digit wins.
Hlacikova (14-2) and
Vivian Lai (14-3) pace SEMO this season with 14 victories each.
Hlacikova, a freshman from Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, has played primarily at the no. 2 position and went 6-1 in OVC play. She compiled an eight-match win streak during the season.
Lai, a sophomore from Taipei, Taiwan, was perfect for the Redhawks during league matches, finishing 7-0 at the fifth slot. She enters the weekend on a 10-match win streak and was named the OVC Women's Tennis Player of the Week on Wednesday.
Shikanova (11-4) and Tarajova (11-5) have both registered 11 victories this campaign.
Shikanova, a sophomore transfer from Nevada, has posted a 9-4 mark at fourth singles including a 6-1 record in league play. After dropping her opening conference match at UT Martin, the Nizhny Novgorod, Russia native, enters the weekend on a six-match win streak.
Tarajova, the 2019 OVC Freshman of the Year, has competed exclusively at the top singles position during conference play, tallying a record of 5-2. Overall in 2021, the junior who hails from Dolný Kubín, Slovakia, has compiled marks of 7-4 and 4-1, at the top two singles positions, respectively.
Zonova has totaled a 4-3 record during the OVC season, playing at the third slot.
Valeeva has notched a 3-3 mark at the final singles position during league play.
Velkoska registered her first OVC singles win of the campaign in the regular-season finale at Eastern Illinois on April 17.
SEMO last competed at the OVC Championship Tournament in 2019 as the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Redhawks advanced to the Semifinals of the 2019 OVC Women's Tennis Championship with their first win at the Championship in 16 years, a 4-1 victory over No. 4 seed Belmont at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 26, 2019.
Prior to that match, SEMO had last won an OVC Women's Tennis Championship match on April 27, 2003, when the No. 7 seed Redhawks beat No. 8 seed Austin Peay, 4-3, to take seventh place.
Six members from that 2019 team are on this year's 2021 OVC Championship team.
In 2021, SEMO swept Jacksonville State, 7-0, in the regular-season matchup on April 10 at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. The Redhawks are 4-12 overall against the Gamecocks after the victory.
JSU went 4-3 in OVC play in 2021 and enters the weekend after overcoming Belmont, 4-3, in the Gamecocks regular-season finale on April 18.
Harriet Hamilton leads Jacksonville State this season with a 15-2 record including a 5-1 mark in OVC matches at no. 2 singles. Dariana Prato has accumulated a record of 13-4 and went 5-1 in league play.
#2 Austin Peay and #3 Murray State round out the 2021 Championship Field. SEMO beat the Governors, 5-2, on April 2 at the Redhawks Tennis Complex before overcoming the Racers, 4-3, on April 7 also in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
APSU earned the second seed with a 5-2 mark in the OVC and are currently on a five-match win streak entering the Championship. Jana Leder led the Governors in 2021 with an 11-2 mark exclusively at no. 3 singles including a perfect 7-0 mark in league matches. Danielle Morris turned in a 5-2 conference record (8-5 overall) at the second slot.
Murray State was tabbed the third seed after compiling a 4-3 record in the league. The Racers enter the weekend after back-to-back losses to Eastern Illinois (4-3 in Murray, Kentucky) on April 10 and most recently APSU (6-1 in Clarksville, Tennessee) on April 16.
Sarah Bureau leads Murray State with a record of 12-5 in 2021 including a 5-2 mark in the OVC (5-1 at no. 3 singles). Gabrielle Geolier has fashioned a 6-1 mark at the sixth slot in conference play and is second on the team this season with a 10-6 overall record.
With a win Saturday, SEMO will face the winner of #2 Austin Peay and #3 Murray State on Sunday in the 2021 OVC Championship Final. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
