CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis (6-3) will head out to North Carolina for a trio of matches over Spring Break to conclude its 2022 non-conference slate. SEMO opens the trip to the Tar Heel State Sunday against Western Carolina (8-4) before facing Montreat College (3-4) Monday. The Redhawks then wrap up their trip Thursday (March 17) when they take on Gardner-Webb (4-5).
The Redhawks square off with Western Carolina of the Southern Conference on Sunday at 1 p.m., CT at the Catamount Tennis Complex in Cullowhee, North Carolina. SEMO will then face the NAIA's (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Montreat College Monday at 11 a.m., CT in Montreat, North Carolina, before wrapping up the three-match road trip at Gardner-Webb of the Big South Thursday at 1 p.m., CT at the Webb Tennis Complex in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
LAST TIME OUT
SEMO tennis (6-3) won their fifth-straight match on Wednesday against Sun Belt Conference member, Arkansas State. The Redhawks claimed the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Daniela Hlacikova and
Teona Velkoska, the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week, beat Yasmine Humbert and Sofia Vdovychenko (6-1) to improve to 4-1 in 2022.
SEMO wrapped up the doubles point with wins from the pairings of
Myroslava Zelenchuk and
Vivian Lai (6-3, third) followed by
Ksenia Shikanova and
Romana Tarajova who won in a tie breaker (7-6 (8-6) first).
With the dual moving to singles, Velkoska extended the SEMO advantage to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1, decision over Rebecca Brody at No. 6 singles.
Vivian Lai then defeated Vdovychenko (6-2, 6-3) to give the Redhawks a 3-0 advantage.
Both Velkoska and Lai tallied their third-straight victories in singles on the season at Arkansas State. Lai is second on the team with a 5-2 record in singles.
Shikanova sealed the deal, giving the Redhawks the win with her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hunter Roper in the No. 4 slot.
Shikanova leads the Redhawks in 2022 with a 6-3 mark after her fifth-straight win.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WESTERN CAROLINA
The Catamounts are currently 8-4 during the 2022 campaign. Currently, they are 1-1 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina will host Lees-McRae and Carson Newman in a doubleheader Saturday before facing SEMO Sunday.
Most recently, WCU dropped its match to #69 Kennesaw State, 6-1 in Cullowhee, North Carolina, on March 8.
The Catamounts took the doubles point to give them an early 1-0 advantage in the match before Kennesaw State rattled off six-straight singles wins to clinch the match, snapping Western Carolina's three-match win streak.
MONTREAT COLLEGE
NAIA member Montreat College sits at 3-4 on the season thus far. The Cavaliers have lost their last three matches to Lindsey Wilson (4-3, Feb. 19), Tennessee-Chattanooga (4-2, Feb. 24) and William Carey (4-3, March 5).
Wins over #12 Williams Woods (4-2), #11 Xavier University of Louisiana (4-0), and #5 Union College (4-0) highlight the season thus far for Montreat College.
Last time out, Montreat College battled No. 6 ranked William Carey University, dropping the match by a final score of 4-3 in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on March 5.
The Cavaliers took the doubles point for the match winning in the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. Stephanie Petit and Carolina Reis (No. 1) and Sofia Hernandez Mera and Nicole Bueno (No. 3) captured the point for Montreat College.
The Cavaliers dropped their second singles match when the competition switched (6-0, 6-1), but regained the lead with victories from No. 1 Stephanie Petit (6-3, 6-3) and No. 3 Vaishnavi Vekatesh (1-6, 7-6, 7-5).
Montreat College then dropped three consecutive matches to lose the dual.
The Cavaliers will face Point University in an Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup Saturday before taking on the Redhawks Monday.
GARDNER-WEBB
The Bulldogs are members of the Big South Conference and currently are 4-5 in 2022. Gardner-Webb has compiled a perfect 2-0 conference record to start the campaign.
Wins over Wofford College (4-3) and Hampton University (7-0) have the Bulldogs in first place in the Big South. Gardner-Webb will square off with Charleston Southern Sunday before Thursday's (March 17) contest with the Redhawks.
Gardner-Webb most recently dropped a 4-3 decision to Davidson on March 6 in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
Davidson won the doubles point and the first singles match of the day (No. 5) due to retirement to take a 2-0 lead.
Top Bulldogs singles player Teodora Ristic dominated her match (6-1, 6-3) and No. 3 Maria Jardim (6-1, 6-2) added another win to tie the match at 2-2.
Manon Delsol then won in flight No. 2, 6-3, 7-5 to have the match come down to the result on court 6.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following its tour of the Tar Heel State, SEMO will begin Ohio Valley Conference play when they head to Charleston, Illinois, on Friday, March 25 to take on Eastern Illinois. First serve is slated for 2 p.m., CT.
SEMO, the 2021 OVC Regular-Season Champions, were selected to repeat and finish first in the league in 2022. EIU was pegged seventh in the preseason poll.
