CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Trinity Calinescu and Lera Valeeva each went undefeated at 4-0 in singles play to lead Southeast Missouri in its first fall competition at the Austin Peay Invitational.
SEMO participated in the event along with host Austin Peay, UAB, Cumberland and Chattanooga.
Calinescu beat UAB's Annalisa Smith (6-4, 6-3), Cumberland's Maria Arbelaez (6-2, 6-2), Austin Peay's Sophia Baranov (6-2, 6-3) and Chattanooga's Madlena Orlova (3-6, 7-6, 11-9) for her first victories of the fall campaign.
Meanwhile, Valeeva started strong with victories over Austin Peay's Yu-Hua Cheng (6-5, 5-7, 1-10), Cumberland's Alexandra Leisibach (6-1, 6-3), Austin Peay's Ayden Kujawa (6-1, 6-3) and Chattanooga's Sanja Djurdjevic (6-1, 6-2).
Overall, SEMO finished with 16 singles and four doubles wins in its first action of the 2023-24 campaign.
Vivian Lai followed with a 3-1 singles record, while newcomers Maja Bajorek, Ewa Czapulak and Juliette Talieu all picked up wins in their first SEMO competition. Bajorek and Czapulak added two wins apiece.
In doubles, Calinescu and Lai posted a team-best 2-2 mark. They were victorious against Austin Peay's Cheng/Luca Bohlen, 6-3, and Cumberland's Elina Sungatullia/Elina Zugasti, 6-0.
SEMO is back in action when it hosts its Redhawk Invitational Sept. 29-30. Western Illinois, SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee Southern complete the four-team tournament.
