CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season Champion Southeast Missouri claimed two of the league's top honors with Mary Beth Gunn getting Coach of the Year and Daniela Hlacikova winning Player of the Year Thursday.
For the second time in her career, Gunn was named the league's Coach of the Year.
SEMO won its second-straight OVC regular-season title with an overall record of 11-6 and perfect 6-0 mark in league play. The Redhawks posted back-to-back OVC regular-season championships for the first time in program history.
In OVC play, SEMO recorded three shutouts and outscored its opponents by a combined 37-3 in six matches. The Redhawks enter the postseason red-hot on an eight-match winning streak.
The Redhawks went undefeated in OVC action for the third time in four years and are 23-2 against league opponents since the 2021 campaign. SEMO has won 11-consecutive conference matches.
In terms of OVC weekly honors, SEMO dominated that area as well. In all, the Redhawks claimed six OVC Player of the Week awards and five OVC Doubles Team of the Week accolades this spring.
SEMO put together its fourth-straight winning season and sixth in nine years with Gunn at the helm.
A native of Banska´ Bystrica, Slovakia, Hlacikova became the first player in program history to be voted OVC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Hlacikova is the first in league history to accomplish that feat since Austin Peay's Lidia Yanes won the award three years in a row from 2016-18.
Hlacikova is 12-5 in dual singles play with nine of her victories coming at the No. 1 position. She is on a six-match singles winning streak and has gone 9-1 in her last 10 contests. Additionally, Hlacikova secured First-Team All-OVC honors for the fourth time in her career.
In doubles action, Hlacikova and Talieu are 13-1 to headline the OVC Doubles All-Conference Team. They have won 12-consecutive matches and are undefeated in their last 10 doubles bouts at the top of the Redhawks lineup. Hlacikova and Talieu won four of the team's five OVC Doubles Team of the Week awards this season.
Individually, Talieu went 9-2 in No. 3 singles, winning each of her previous nine matches en route to First-Team All-OVC accolades. Talieu transferred to SEMO from North Alabama for her final season.
Joining Hlacikova and Talieu on the OVC First-Team is Trinity Calinescu. Calinescu picks up her first career all-conference honor with a 12-4 singles record. She is 11-2 at the No. 2 spot. Calinescu's 12 singles victories are tied with Hlacikova for most on the team this spring. She is also 10-4 in No. 2 doubles with teammate Vivian Lai.
Lai rounds out SEMO's All-OVC honorees as a second-team selection for the second-straight season. Lai has seven singles wins between the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Her 15-7 doubles record with Calinescu is second-best on the team.
The top-seeded Redhawks open OVC Tournament play in Saturday's semifinals against the winner of #4 Lindenwood and #5 Tennessee State at 10 a.m., CT. This year's OVC Tournament will be contested in St. Louis.
