Match 17
vs Villanova (3-8)
Date: Saturday, March 8th, 2025
Time: 2:00 p.m., CT
Location: UTSA Tennis Center, Orlando, FL
Series: First Meeting
Live Stream: semoredhawks.com

Redhawks Trek to the Sunshine State to Face Villanova
Southeast Missouri Tennis will be trekking to Orlando, Florida this weekend to face the university of Villanova at the UTSA Tennis Center at 2:00 p.m., CT on Saturday, March 8.

About Villanova
The Wildcats come into the weekend 3-8, winning 7-0 last time out over Seton Hall. Villanova are coming off of a 10-13 record last season, going 4-4 in conference play. Over the past four matches, graduate student Sophia Edwards has been 2-2 in doubles play on the No. 1 court, with the wins coming against St. John's and Seton Hall. Villanova has an experienced roster having just one freshman on the team. The rest of the team is made up of four sophomores, three juniors, three seniors, and one graduate student. Earlier in the season, the Wildcats had notable performances as they won back to back games against Bucknell University and Leigh University.

Series History
This will be the first meeting between the Redhawks and the Wildcats. This will be the fifth time this season Southeast Missouri is facing off against an opponent for the first time. 

The Florida Trip
The Redhawks will be playing their first ever match in the Sunshine State this weekend (As of 2009-2010). SEMO has yet to face an opponent in the state of Florida. Against Florida schools, Southeast Missouri is 2-1 all-time with wins against Florida Southern and the University of Tampa and a loss against West Florida. 

Redhawk Leaders
Juliette Demunck leads the Redhawks in singles this season. Demunck has a team best nine singles victories with four wins coming at No. 3 and five  wins at No. 4. Kristina Kozakova has six wins on the season but has only lost two matches this year between No. 5 and 6. 

The graduate pair of Lera Valeeva and Kristina Kozakova have the most doubles wins so far this year with seven. Valeeva and Kozakova have four wins at the number one position and three wins at spot two.

Weekend Seven Recap
The Redhawks went 1-1 over the past weekend with a 5-2 win over Missouri State last Friday and a 4-0 loss against North Alabama last Sunday.

Against Missouri State, the Redhawks No. 1 and No. 3 pairs of Lera Valeeva and Kristina Kozakova and Juliette Demunck and Yontha Tadoum captured the doubles point for SEMO. In singles play SEMO only fell in two of the matches. Kristina Kozakova scored the second point for the Redhawks after only letting her opponent score once during the entire match and won 6-0, 6-1. Mia Mayerova won in straight sets against Pols at the number five position 6-4, 6-3. Maja Bajorek clinched the match for the Redhawks with a straight set win on court three (6-4, 6-3). 

Against the Lions, the Redhawks fell in doubles to let North Alabama capture the doubles point. In singles action, the Lions won the first three matches in straight sets clinching the match. Bajorek and Valeeva were the lone Redhawks to win a set during the match. Bajorek won set one 6-2 and fell 6-2 in the second set before going unfinished at No. 3 against Ansorge. Valeeva was up 4-1 in set 2 and won set 1 6-4 before going unfinished against Bobrovnika.

Looking Ahead
After the trip down to Orlando, the Redhawks will begin conference play with their first OVC match on Saturday, March 15 against the Lindenwood Lions in St. Charles, Mo.