CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (1-2) will compete in a pair of dual matches Friday and Saturday in Columbia, Missouri. The Redhawks will take on Missouri Friday at 4 p.m., CT before facing Central Arkansas Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Both matches will be contested at the Mizzou Tennis Complex.
Friday's match with Missouri was previously scheduled for 2 p.m., CT but was rescheduled for 4 p.m. due to inclement weather in the forecast.
SEMO (1-2) heads to Columbia on the back of an impressive victory Feb. 11 against in-state rival Missouri State, 6-1.
SEMO secured the doubles point with wins at the second and third slots.
Romana Tarajova and
Myroslava Zelenchuk beat Mara Presot and Alyson Piskulic, 6-1, and
Daniela Hlacikova and
Teona Velkoska secured the second doubles point for the Redhawks (6-3).
When the competition switched to singles, the Redhawks rattled off wins at the first, third, fourth, second and fifth slots to nab their first win of the season.
Tarajova was named the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Top Player last week prior to the match in Springfield, Missouri.
Tarajova dominated Missouri State's Tiera Jarmond with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the No. 1 position.
Ksenia Shikanova (2-6, 6-3, 6-2),
Myroslava Zelenchuk (6-2, 6-1), Hlacikova (4-6, 6-3, 10-8), and
Vivian Lai (7-5, 6-3) all secured victories for the Redhawks at the dual.
Hlacikova was named the OVC Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday. She leads SEMO thus far in the early 2022 season with a singles mark of 2-1 with wins at Kentucky and Missouri State.
In doubles, Hlacikova is 1-1 with a victory over Juliette Robinson and Sandra Lukacova (Missouri State), 6-3, at the third slot with Velkoska.
For Hlacikova, the weekly honor marked the first in her career as a Redhawk. She was selected third overall in the 2022 OVC Women's Tennis Preseason Top Ten Player Rankings on Feb. 8 as the Redhawks, the 2021 OVC Regular-Season Champions, were selected to finish first.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Missouri
The Tigers (2-4) started off the year strong with a pair of wins over fellow Ohio Valley Conference member UT Martin, 7-0 and 5-0.
Since then, Missouri has dropped its last four matches against Big 12 conference members No. 1 Texas (0-7) and No. 22 Oklahoma State (0-7) and the Big Ten's Illinois (0-4) on Feb 13.
Mizzou most recently lost a close duel against Iowa (4-1), 5-2, on Tuesday.
In doubles play, Bronte Murgett and Gabriela Martinez snagged their second win of the season against Samantha Gillas and Marisa Schmidt, 6-3. Ellie Wright and Romary Cardenas clinched the doubles point for Mizzou shortly after, taking down Michelle Bacalla and Barbora Pokorna, 6-3.
Wright had total control of her singles match and continued to earn her first singles win of the season over Pokorna, 7-5, 6-3.
Central Arkansas
The Bears are 5-3 overall in the early 2022 season with wins over Austin Peay, Kansas City, Arkansas State, Arkansas Tech and Samford. The Bears have dropped matches against Memphis, Arkansas, and UAB.
UCA is led by Jaeun Lee who is currently 4-2 in singles followed by Suomo Hamanaga (4-4), Fuka Nonoyama (4-3) and Yada Vasupongchai (3-3).
Central Arkansas most recently beat Arkansas Tech (4-3) and Arkansas State (5-2) on Feb. 11 at the UCA Tennis Courts.
LOOKING AHEAD
Southeast Missouri will next return home on March 1, to take on William Woods in a doubleheader at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. Matches are set for 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., CT.
