Southeast Missouri State University
Southern Indiana
Tennis Opens Fall Season at the OVC Fall Tournament
9/20/2024 9:42:00 AM | Women's Tennis
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's tennis will open their 2024 fall schedule this weekend in Evansville, Indiana to compete at the OVC Fall Tournament.
This will be the first ever OVC Fall tournament and it will be held at Wesselman Park at the University of Southern Indiana from Sept. 21-22. It will start at 10:00 a.m., CT on Saturday and 9:00 a.m., CT on Sunday.
The Redhawks are coming off of a 12-7 overall spring record going undefeated in conference play (6-0) for the second year in a row. Out of the last four seasons the Redhawks have won the regular OVC title three times and won the OVC Tournament title twice.
Scouting the Opponents
Southern Indiana
Last season the Screaming Eagles finished third in the OVC standings at 4-2 with an 11-11 overall record. Their season ended in the second round of the OVC tournament with a loss against SIUE.
USI returns four of their six starters from a season ago. The Screaming Eagles freshman duo from last season, Anais Negrail and Antonia Ferrarini, return for their sophomore campaigns.
Negrail won OVC freshman of the year and was named to Second-Team All-OVC, and Ferrarini was also named to Second-Team All-OVC.
Chris Crawford enters his third season coaching the Screaming Eagles women's tennis team.
SIUE
SIUE is coming off of a 18-4 overall record, a 5-1 conference record, and are the reigning OVC tournament champion. The Cougars won the OVC tournament and went onto play Pepperdine in the NCAA tournament.
The Cougars only return five athletes from last season. Newcomers to this year's squad are Freshman Noelle Compton, Mia Garber, Payton Tomichek and Senior transfer Paige Duncan.
Margaux Guibal Britt returns for her junior season after a successful sophomore campaign. Last season Britt was named to First-Team All-OVC and Doubles team All-Conference with Amelia Gorman.
Gorman, along with the Doubles Team All-Conference award, was also named to Second-Team All-OVC.
Adam Albertsen begins his seventh season with SIUE. Albertsen has led the Cougars to a better record in each of his first six seasons and won OVC Coach of the Year in 2023.
Western Illinois
Western Illinois finished last season with a 2-16 overall record and a 0-6 OVC record. The Leathernecks eventually fell to SIUE during the first round of the OVC Tournament.
The Leathernecks boast a very young team this fall. WIU only returns four athletes from last year's team. Western Illinois roster consists of only three upperclassmen and they have six freshmen on this year's squad.
After joining the OVC just last year Luke Ogren is back for his second season with the Leathernecks.
Eastern Illinois
Last season the Panthers ended in sixth place in the OVC standings (1-21, 1-5 OVC). During the OVC tournament their season ended in the first round where they fell 4-2 to Southern Indiana.
EIU returns five athletes from last year's team including Junior Aleyla Wooten, who was the only panther to receive post season honors last year. Wooten was named to the Second-Team All-OVC last year as a sophomore.
This season, the Panthers roster features three freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors, and one senior.
Robin Cambier begins his first fall season at the helm of the Panthers program. Cambier was hired in February of 2024 and got to coach EIU during the spring last season.
Lindenwood
The Lindenwood Lions ended last season with an overall record of 7-13. The Lions finished fourth in the standings with a conference record of 3-3. Lindenwood took on Tennessee State in the first round of the tournament and lost 2-4.
The Lions return four athletes from last year's squad, Sophomore Sarah Ben Aba, Sophomore Paola Garcia, Senior Yana Gaskell, and Sophomore Fabiana Labrador. Lindenwood added one freshman and two transfers to go along with the four returns for this season.
Cole Stevenson enters his sixth season as the head coach for the Lions.
Looking Ahead
SEMO will be on the road again for their next tournament on Oct. 4-5. The Redhawks will be competing at the Murfreesboro Tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
