CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Top-seeded Southeast Missouri (15-2) begins postseason play in the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals. SEMO will face the winner #4 Tennessee State at 10 a.m., CT Saturday.
This year's six-team tournament will be contested at the Larry J. Heflin Tennis Center in Paducah, Kentucky.
SEMO, which enters the tournament as the #1 seed for the second time in three years, is the reigning OVC Tournament Champion after winning the crown for the first time in program history last season. SIU Edwardsville is the #2 seed and will play the other semifinal matchup at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Overall, the Redhawks make their 15th OVC Tournament appearance all-time and fifth in eight years under Head Coach
Mary Beth Gunn. SEMO is 4-3 in OVC Tournament matches with Gunn as its coach.
SEMO, which is on a program record 14-match winning streak, is in the midst of its best season ever. The Redhawks went undefeated in OVC play for the second time in three years and haven't lost in two-and-a-half months. Opponents scored only three points in five league matches against SEMO this year. The Redhawks shutout three of their OVC foes (Lindenwood, Tennessee State, Southern Indiana).
Three players, including First-Team All-OVC selection
Romana Tarajova (25-5), Second-Team All-OVC pick
Vivian Lai (25-5) and freshman Trinity Calinescu (25-6) have 25 singles victories this 2022-23 campaign. Each of them have a shot at passing Donna Fields (26, 1992-93) for the most singles wins in a season in SEMO's tennis history.
Lai, Calinescu and Second-Team All-OVC honoree
Teona Velkoska are a combined 30-0 in their last 10 singles matches. All carry double-digit match winning streaks to Paducah this weekend, as well. Velkoska is on a team-best 14-match winning streak, while Calinescu and Lai have won 11 and 10 in a row, respectively.
At the top of SEMO's lineup is OVC Player of the Year
Daniela Hlacikova, who is 22-7 overall and 14-3 in dual singles action this season. Hlacikova's 14 dual singles wins are second to only Velkoska (15-2). She is currently 11-2 at the No. 1 position with a win over last year's OVC Player of the Year (Jill Lambrechts, SIUE).
Tarajova, SEMO's first-ever OVC Player of the Year in 2021, garnered First-Team All-OVC honors for the fourth time in her career. Tarajova will play in the No. 2 spot, where she is 11-2 this spring. She has won seven-straight singles matchups. Tarajova is first in SEMO history with 86 career singles wins and Lai is second in that category with 79.
Ksenia Shikanova, SEMO's other First-Team All-OVC selection this spring, is 23-7 overall and 12-5 in dual competition. She is 11-5 at the No. 3 spot in the Redhawks lineup.
Tarajova and Shikanova are the Redhawks top doubles team who earned All-OVC accolades. They are 9-2 in No. 1 doubles with wins in eight of their last 10 matches. SEMO lost the doubles point only once (at SIUE) in conference play this season.
With one more win, SEMO will reach its second-most wins in a season in program history behind the Dr. Allen Hope's 1992-93 team (17-6). Two wins will give the Redhawks their second-straight OVC Tournament title for the first time ever.
