Match 8
vs Lincoln Memorial (3-1)
Date: Friday, February 7th, 2025
Time: 4:00 p.m., CT
Location: Harrogate, TN
Series: First Meeting
Match 9
vs Carson Newman (0-0)
Date: Saturday, February 8th, 2025
Time: 12:00 p.m., CT
Location: Harrogate, TN
Series: CN leads 1-0
Match 10
vs Cumberland (0-0)
Date: Saturday, February 8th, 2025
Time: 3:00 p.m., CT
Location: Harrogate, TN
Series: First Meeting
Redhawks Trek to Harrogate, Tennessee for Three Matches This Weekend
Southeast Missouri Tennis is back on the road again this week. This weekend the Redhawks will be traveling to Harrogate Tennessee to take on Division two opponents Lincoln Memorial University and Carson Newman University. For the third match of the weekend SEMO will face NAIA opponent Cumberland University.
About Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial comes into the weekend with a 3-1 record with their only loss coming in their most recent matchup against the University of North Georgia where LMU lost 2-5. The Railsplitters ranked tenth in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll with sophomore Adriana Pellizzari making second team singles and the duo of Adriana Pellizzari and Carla Ramonet making second team doubles in the preseason rankings. LMU finished 3-9(tenth) in their conference and 9-15 overall last year.
About Carson Newman
The Eagles come into this weekend yet to start their spring season. Carson Newman was ranked fourth in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll and had two athletes, Edisa Hot and Leah McBride, named as players to watch this season. Hot was named as the Mid-South Conference women's tennis player of the year last year. The Eagles finished 8-4(sixth) in conference play last year and 11-8 overall.
About Cumberland
The Phoenixes will also begin their season this weekend, coming off of a 3-18 record last season that saw Cumberland fall in the first round of the Mid-South Conference Championship. They are led by senior Maria Arbelaez who was named second team all conference in the Mid-South Conference last year. The Phoenix are coached by Karen Martinez who is in her ninth year with Cumberland University. During Martinez's tenure she had coached 22 All-Mid-South Conference selections and eight NAIA All-Americans.
Series History
This will be the first time SEMO has faced Lincoln Memorial and Cumberland. The Redhawks have only faced off against Carson Newman once, with Carson Newman coming out on top to lead the series 1-0.
SEMO vs Non-D1
In Southeast Missouri tennis history, the Redhawks have faced a total of 34 non-division 1 opponents. SEMO currently holds a 32-23 record against non-D1 opponents. Out of the past five seasons, the Redhawk tennis program has a 9-0 record against non-D1 opponents.
Weekend Three Recap
The Redhawks went 2-1 over this past weekend winning 4-3 against Murray State and 5-2 against Austin Peay. Then falling 4-0 to Louisiana Tech.
Coming into the Murray State match, the Redhawks were 5-27 all-time against the Racers and MSU was picked to win the Missouri Valley conference in the Preseason poll. SEMO's number one pair, Lera Valeeva and Kristina Kozakova took on Yuna Kadowaki and Yu Kikawa and eventually won 7-5 to clinch the doubles point for the Redhawks. Juliette Demunck and Maja Bajorek would win on their respective courts, tying the match 3-3. Kozakova clinched the fourth point for SEMO after a three-set thriller against Kadowaki on court five.
Against Louisiana Tech, Bajorek and Mia Mayerová would be the only Redhawk doubles pair to win. The pair cruised to an easy 6-1 win over Alice Brook and Mari Tsironi. The Bulldogs would then win the next three matches clinching the match 4-0. Mayerova was the only Redhawk to win a set for the Redhawks. Mayerova won 7-6 in the first set then was tied 2-2 in the second before the match went unfinished.
Demunck and Clauida Casas clinched the doubles point for SEMO, escaping with a 7-6 victory over Ayden Kujawa and Alice Bolton against Austin Peay. In singles play, Kozakova and Casas won by forfeit on court 5 and 6 to start singles play due to Austin Peay not having enough players to compete.SEMO would go on to win their next two matches in straight sets and push their lead to 5-0 clinching the match.
A New Era Begins
Steve Brooks will be taking over the reigns as the new Head Coach for the SEMO tennis program. Coach Brooks was hired back in August of 2024 and this will be his first spring season as the Head Coach of the Redhawks. Coach Brooks becomes the 10th head coach in program history and comes to SEMO with more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 15 at the NCAA Division I level.
Fall Recap
The Redhawks enjoyed a successful fall season. SEMO competed in four tournaments over the fall, the OVC Fall tournament, Tennessee Fall Intercollegiate Tournament, the ITA Regional, and the UCA Fall Invitational. In singles action the Redhawks posted a 30-22 overall record with Juliette Demunck (9-2) and Mia Mayerová (8-3) leading the way for SEMO. In doubles play, SEMO went 12-8 with the partnership of Bajorek and Mayerová earning the most wins with six.
Redhawks Picked second in 2025 OVC Preseason Poll
The Redhawks were picked second in this year's preseason poll with 28 points trailing only SIUE who was picked first with 36 total points and six of the seven first place votes. Western Illinois after finishing in last place a season ago was picked third with the other first place vote and 26 total points. Southern Indiana (22), Lindenwood (15), Eastern Illinois (12), and Tennessee State (10) completed the poll.
The University of Bryant will be joining the OVC tennis schools but will not play a regular season conference schedule. The Bulldogs will be competing at the OVC conference tournament as part of the eight team field.
Valeeva, the graduate, was SEMO's singles player to watch for the spring. Valeeva joins Kozakova, a grad transfer from Blue Mountain Christian as the doubles players to watch this spring.
