After regular season OVC repeat, SEMO Tennis aims for tourney three-peat

The Southeast Missouri State women’s tennis team has won back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference championships and entered the OVC Tournament as the top seed with a bye on Saturday, April 20, in St. Louis.

“It’s kind of a relief,” Redhawks coach Mary Beth Gunn said on the SEMO Scramble, hosted by Rusty Hendricks and Semoball’s Clay Herrell. “You work hard for this every day starting in August so it’s a relief when you have these goals and you’re able to accomplish what you set out to do.”

The Redhawks (11-6) ended the regular season with an eight-match winning streak and were perfect against the OVC and flawless at home.

The SEMO senior class leaves a legacy of success, having won all three of the Redhawks’ OVC regular season titles and a tournament title in 2022.

“I have three players in the lineup who are going to graduate with four rings,” Gunn said. “That’s pretty huge. We’re really proud of that fact.”

Daniela Hlacikova was the OVC Player of the Year last year and went 18-8 overall this year including a perfect 6-0 against conference opponents. She was always in the No. 1 and No. 2 spot for SEMO.

“To have her return in the number one spot has been huge,” Gunn said.

Cosima Trinity Calinescu made for an unstoppable 1-2 punch for SEMO. She and Hlacikova stand out as the only players to finish the conference slate 6-0. With an OVC-leading 21 wins, it might be Calinescu’s turn to win OVC Player of the Year this season.

“She played number five for us last year but she worked really hard over the summer and really hard during the fall and now she’s in the number two position and undefeated in her spot,” Gunn said.

Juliette Talieu was a newcomer from North Alabama and went 10-2 from the No. 3 spot.

“She’s just been really big in that three-spot for us,” Gunn said.

The Redhawks will take on the winner between No. 4 Lindenwood and No. 5 Tennessee State, which kicks off the OVC Tournament at 9 a.m., on Friday, April 19. The winners between No. 2 SIUE and No. 7 Western Illinois will take on the winners between No. 3 Southern Indiana and No. 6 Eastern Illinois in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday, after SEMO’s match at 10 a.m.

“It’s difficult because we definitely have a target on our back,” Gunn said. “People want to beat us and I think sometimes teams set their lineup to try and beat you. It does make it more of a challenge and you have to work hard every day to try and overcome those things so you can be as ready as you can be.”

The championship game will take place at noon on Sunday, April 21. The Redhawks will be looking for a third straight tournament title.

“It’s really important to stay humble,” Gunn said. “We’re not just going to go there and have people give it to us. We’re going to have to work hard and focus on every point in order to come away with a tournament championship.”