CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.  – Southeast Missouri women's tennis, the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season Champions, kicks off its spring 2022 season this Sunday with a doubleheader against Kentucky (3-0) of the SEC (Southeastern Conference) at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. The doubleheader is set to commence at 9 a.m., CT and the second match will begin at 1 p.m.
 
The Redhawks look to build upon their strong fall tournament season, as the Redhawks went a combined 55-27 in singles matches.
 
Freshman Myroslava Zelenchuk began her collegiate career with an impressive 12-2 record in singles play. The freshman from Lviv, Ukraine, became the first Redhawk tennis player ever to win a championship at the ITA NCAA Division I Women's Central Regional Championship with the Singles Main Consolation title.
 
Romana Tarajova made a stellar run in the ITA Central Regional main draw, making the quarterfinals before losing to the top seed Thasaporn Naklo from Iowa State.
 
Lera Valeeva (7-1), Tarajova (9-4), Ksenia Shikanova (8-5), Vivian Lai (7-5) and Daniela Hlacikova (5-2) all recorded winning records in the fall season.
 
Zelenchuk captured the fifth singles flight championship at the UCA Invitational. Valeeva also won the seventh singles draw championship at the tournament.
 
Tarajova, Shikanova and Valeeva won the second, third and fifth singles flight championships, respectively, at SEMO's hidden dual with Saint Louis and UT Martin. Tarajova also captured the second doubles flight championship with Teona Velkoska.
 
SEMO was last in action at the Murray State Invitational Nov. 5-6, 2021 against Belmont and Murray State in Murray, Kentucky.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Last season, Kentucky posted a 16-9 overall record going 6-7 in SEC play. Fiona Arrese and Akvile Paražinskaite earned the No. 1 seed in the doubles draw for the NCAA Championships. The duo were the first Wildcats to be ranked No. 1 since 2016 and the first with Carlos Drada at the helm.
 
Kentucky began their season on January 14 with a doubleheader against East Tennessee State.
 
The Wildcats most recently defeated Miami (Ohio) on January 16 in Lexington, Kentucky, by a final score of 5-2.
 
Fiona Arrese and Florencia Urrutia both enter Friday's contest with a 3-0 mark in singles action following individual wins against the Bucs and RedHawks. The duo also teamed up for a pair of doubles victories during the opening weekend with ETSU.
 
The team's two freshmen in Lidia Gonzalez and Ellie Eades have made quite the impact in their Wildcat debuts. Gonzalez secured a singles point in the second match with ETSU to even the score, while Eades survived a grueling battle to clinch the match point. They both picked up singles wins against the RedHawks as well, with Gonzalez earning the clinch.
 
Kentucky heads to South Bend, Indiana, on Friday to take on Notre Dame before facing off with the Redhawks on Sunday.
 
ABOUT LAST SEASON
The Redhawks enter the 2021-22 campaign after securing the program's first ever OVC Championship this past spring. The Redhawks finished league play with a perfect 7-0 record and an overall mark of 15-5 in 2021.
 
SEMO secured the top-seed at the 2021 OVC Tournament and finished as the runners-up, dropping the championship match, 4-3, to #2 Austin Peay.
 
The 15 wins in 2021 is the highest win total in 28 years for SEMO as the 1993 team finished 17-6 (6-1 OVC).
 
Returning for the Redhawks are four players that registered double-digit singles wins in the 2021 season. Vivian Lai (16-3), Daniela Hlacikova (14-3), Ksenia Shikanova (12-5) and Romana Tarajova (11-6) all return for the 2021-22 campaign along with Manuela Barriga, Grace Powderly, Teona Velkoska, and Lera Valeeva.
 
Seniors Kseniya Zonova and Maja Lundell both graduated. Zonova, a 2018 All-OVC performer, joined the tennis staff as a graduate assistant for the 2021-22 season.
 
Hlacikova was named the 2021 OVC Freshman of the Year and played no. 2 singles for the Redhawks. She finished with a 14-3 (6-1 OVC) record.
 
Tarajova secured 2021 OVC Player of the Year honors, competing at no. 1 in singles for SEMO. She posted an 11-6 (5-2 OVC) mark.
 
Head coach Mary Beth Gunn also took home 2021 OVC Coach of the Year making it a clean sweep for the Redhawks in 2021 for league awards.
 
Gunn returns to the helm of the SEMO program for her seventh season in 2022.
 
SEMO also had a program-best three All-OVC selections in 2021 in Tarajova, Hlacikova and Shikanova.
 
NEXT UP
Following the Redhawks' doubleheader in Lexington, Kentucky, SEMO will travel to Arkansas State to take on the Red Wolves on February 4.