Bryce Kristal earns first-team OVC honor in tennis

Southeast Missouri State women's tennis coach Mark Elliott thought Bryce Kristal deserved to be on the all-Ohio Valley Conference first team last year.

Instead, Kristal settled for second-team honors.

But Kristal reached the top spot this season as Friday she was named first-team all-OVC. Voting was done by the conference's head coaches.

Kristal, a senior from Pleasanton, Calif., went 13-7 overall in singles this year, including 7-3 in OVC matches from the No. 1 position.

"It's about time," Elliott said of Kristal making the first team. "She had a better record last year [17-7 overall, 8-2 in the OVC] and I thought she should have made it then.

"But I'm happy for her. She put the work in. She's one of the best players we've had in a long time."

Kristal, who last year became Southeast's first all-OVC selection since 1996, has been the Redhawks' No. 1 player each of her four seasons. She has 52 career wins to rank second on the school's all-time victory list.

Playing doubles with her twin sister Drew the past four years, the duo combined for 50 doubles victories, the most in program history.

Softball at home

The Southeast softball team will try to make a move up the OVC standings this weekend when the Redhawks host the league's second-place squad.

Southeast (21-21, 8-9) and Morehead State (26-10 11-5) will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

The Redhawks are fifth in the 10-team OVC. The top six finishers qualify for the conference tournament.

Jacksonville State leads the league at 14-3, followed by Morehead State, Eastern Illinois (7-4), Eastern Kentucky (11-7) and Southeast.

Tennessee Tech (6-7) is sixth, with Samford (7-11) and Tennessee State (7-11) tied for seventh. Tennessee-Martin (4-8) and Austin Peay (3-13) hold down the bottom two spots.

The Redhawks, coming off Thursday's nonconference doubleheader sweep at Saint Louis University, continue to be led by their three senior stars.

Megan McDonald, from Central High School, is the OVC's No. 2 hitter with a .424 average. She leads the league in hits with 56 and doubles with 13, in addition to having seven home runs and 31 RBIs.

Michelle Summers, the school record-holder in most career offensive categories, is the OVC's No. 3 hitter at .388.

Summers, Southeast's career and single-season home-run leader, is tied for second in the OVC with 12 homers and 36 RBIs. She is also second in runs scored with 34.

Elaine Fisher, 16-13 with a 2.17 ERA, is second in the conference in wins and strikeouts (135) while leading in innings pitched (184).

Morehead State has the OVC's top team ERA (1.20) and No. 3 batting average (.296). Southeast is fourth in ERA (3.26) and fourth in batting average (.265).

Track at Arkansas

The Southeast track and field teams are in Fayetteville, Ark., for today's McDonnell Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas.

Senior Miles Smith enters the meet with the fastest seed in the 400 meters and fourth best time in the nation.

Smith will be competing against Andretti Bain of Oral Roberts, the NCAA indoor champion in the 400. Smith finished sixth at the national meet.

Ben Stricklin enters the javelin competition with the second best mark and senior long jumper John Berry is seeded 10th.

Volleyball wins title

The Southeast volleyball squad won its own spring invitational tournament last weekend, going 4-0 and beating Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in the championship match.

Southeast also posted wins over Tennessee-Martin, Arkansas State and Washington University from St. Louis.

"I was really impressed with what I saw against some good competition," Southeast coach Renata Nowacki said. "These spring tournaments are important in evaluating our team and the progress that they have made from the fall."

Southeast, which tied for last fall's OVC regular-season title, will continue its spring schedule today with a tournament hosted by SIU.

— From staff reports

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