STILLWATER, Okla. - Southeast Missouri Tennis (0-2) concluded it's opening day with a 4-0 loss against Texas State (1-0) and a 4-0 defeat against #4 Oklahoma State (2-0) at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
Against Texas State
Texas State started with an early 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point. SEMO's No. 1 pair of Lera Valeeva and Kristina Kozakova finished first and won 6-4 against Sofia Fortuno and Maria Lora.
Texas State's Emily Niers and Ireland Simme won 6-3 on court two against Maja Bajorek and Mia Mayerová tying the doubles play. SEMO's newcomer pair made up of freshman Yontha Tadoum and junior transfer Claudia Casas eventually fell 7-5 on court three against Callie Creath and Kiana Graham giving Texas State the doubles point.
In singles play, the Bobcats captured the three other singles points in straight sets. Kozakova fell 6-0, 6-3 on court 6 to Simme. In a close first set, Bajorek lost 6-4 in set one against Creath. Creath then captured the third point for Texas State with a 6-2 win in the second set.
Juliette Demunck lost a close match against Tadiwa Mauchi 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 4 position for the Bobcats clinching point in the match.
Valeeva at No. 1, Tadoum at No. 3, and Mayerová at No. 5 position all went unfinished due to Texas State clinching the match.
"The match was closer than the score suggests. At 3D we were up 5-3 and had two match points. Texas State had two seniors who played at No. 1 and 2. We have only two players who have played more than two D1 matches," is what Head Coach Steve Brooks had to say.Â
Coach Brooks was very pleased with his teams performance though saying, "Singles we were competing well and had chances throughout the match. Overall I think it was a great start to the season! One day better!"
Against Oklahoma State
Valeeva and Kozakova teamed up again for SEMO's No. 1 pair. They fell 6-0 against Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp. The Cowgirls captured the doubles point when Tadoum and Casas fell against Amber Hochstatter and Marcela Lopez on court three 6-1.Â
On the singles side, at the No. 5 and No. 3 positions, Mayerová fell 6-1, 6-1 against Lopez and Bajorek lost to Grace Epps 6-1, 6-3. On court four Oklahoma State clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Demunck.
Tadoum and Casas went unfinished at the No. 2 and No. 6 positions. Tadoum was up 3-0 before the match went unfinished. Valeeva also went unfinished again on court one. Valeeva faced off against the #48 ranked women's player in the nation and had a hard fought set one losing 6-3. Then went 4-1 unfinished in set two.
Coach Brooks noted how tough Oklahoma State was. The Cowgirls are the #4 ranked team in the country for a reason but Coach Brooks was proud of his team and how they held up against them. "Very proud of our team overall. Proud of Yontha Tadoum who came to campus five days ago and stepped up into the number two position in this match. Also very proud of Lera Valeeva. Last year at No. 6 to this year at No. 1 and she competed! I thought she played very well."
When talking about the weekend and the season ahead Coach Brooks had this to say, " I thought we competed well today. We only practiced six times before these matches today. It's a long season ahead though, we have to stay healthy and keep improving."
Looking Ahead
The Redhawks will be on the road again as they travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky to face Western Kentucky on Friday, January 24. SEMO will be playing at the Warren County Tennis Facility with the match scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m., CT.Â
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