SEMO stays undefeated with win over Southern Indiana

The SEMO women’s tennis team stretched their undefeated Ohio Valley Conference streak to six matches with a 6-1 victory over Southern Indiana (USI) on Friday at the John C. Bierk Redhawks Tennis Complex. Southeast began the day like the last few matches, taking home the doubles point after winning two of the three matches.

First, the Redhawk team of Trinity Calinescu and Vivian Lai took care of business quickly, with a 6-1 win over USI’s Lauren Rowe and Madison Windham. USI managed to get a point back with their Rachel McCorkle and Anais Negrail team defeating SEMO’s Maja Bajorek and Lera Valeeva 6-3.

The final match was closer but the Redhawks team of Daniela Hlacikova and Juliette Talieu got the upper hand, defeating Sofia Davidoff and Antonia Ferrarini 6-4. SEMO head coach Mary Beth Gunn said it is important for her team to get the doubles point because it slightly lessens the pressure of singles matches.

“It's a big boost because you have a point going into singles play, so then you have to only win 50% of singles, versus having to get four out of six which is tougher to do,” Gunn said. “I think it builds confidence going into singles to have a point under your belt. We make a point of practicing doubles and it is something we've been successful at and I do think it's a big part of our success.”

The Redhawks ran away with singles and won five out of six matches, with the only loss coming at the hands of Negrail who won an extremely close match over Bajorek. Hlacikova and Calinescu also made quick work of their matches winning 6-0/6-4 and 6-4/6-0, respectively.

Valeeva and Juliette Demunck had closer matches but still came away with the victories, both needed a tiebreaker but managed to hold on. Lai won her match by a score of 6-2, 6-1 win over Ferrarini and clinched the match for the Redhawks, Lai said her attacks and consistency helped her win the match.

“I played good with my forehand and I tried looking for like a chance to attack and that helped me to win this match,” Lai said. “Also, I was playing more consistently than her so that's also why I was able to win.”

SEMO will travel to face Eastern Illinois on Wednesday before heading to the OVC tournament on April 19-21.