SEMO freshman adjusting to Division 1 tennis

After a fairly successful fall tennis season, SEMO freshman Maja Bajorek has not been off to the greatest start in spring tennis. This was until this past Sunday when she not only won her doubles and singles match, but she scored the winning match for SEMO to defeat Arkansas State.

Bajorek, a native of Poland had a successful prep/club career before arriving at SEMO, at one point being ranked 17th in Under-18 in her home country. Since she has arrived in Cape Girardeau, Bajorek said the adjustment has been difficult for her but she is slowly getting into her routine.

“I think it’s going good, it’s hard for me because it’s my first year here playing college tennis, it’s different than club tennis,” Bajorek said. “But it’s good, I think I’m getting used to it and it’s getting better and better.”

During Sunday’s match between the Redhawks and Red Wolves, Bajorek won her first set 6-4 before going down 5-3 to Arkansas State’s Ariadna Fernandez. Bajorek was able to win the next four sets in a row to defeat Fernandez 7-5 in the second and win the match.

Bajorek said when she was down in the second set, she just tried to play the game one point at a time.

“I was not thinking about her being up in a second set. I was just thinking about playing every point the best you can,” Bajorek said. “I tried to be more aggressive when it was 5-3 and I think that worked.”

Bajorek’s match win clinched the team win for the Redhawks, something SEMO head coach Mary Beth Gunn was proud of and said Bajorek has continued to improve since she arrived.

“She's continued to develop, that's been our key is development. We pretty much do that with all of our freshmen and she's really starting to blossom, and it just takes time for that to happen,” Gunn said. “She's putting the time and the hard work on the court and now she's getting to see the positive outcome of putting that time in.”

Bajorek and the Redhawks will be back in action at home on March 15, where they will take on Lindenwood beginning at 2 p.m.