SEMO tennis dominates Lindenwood

The SEMO tennis team defeated Lindenwood 7-0 on Friday at the John C. Bierk Redhawks Tennis Complex to move to 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. With the victory the Redhawks extend their winning streak to four matches.

SEMO began the afternoon by winning all three of the doubles matches, Lera Valeeva and Maja Bajorek took their match 6-1 with Juliette Talieu and Daniela Hlacikova taking theirs 6-1. Vivian Lai and Trinity Calinescu finished doubles play for the Redhawks by winning their match by a score of 6-4.

Facing a colder and windier day than the team has thus far this season, Redhawks head coach Mary Beth Gunn said they used the weather as an advantage.

“I think that we played solid tennis. We were making our shots and we were playing smart,” Gunn said. “There was some wind today and I felt like we were using that to our advantage especially when we were flipping over to hit with a wind, playing a more offensive style. I thought that we did well with the conditions today.”

With the doubles point secured, the Redhawks and Lions moved on to singles play where SEMO took all six matches in straight sets. Bajorek won the first point for the Redhawks by defeating her opponent 6-1 and 6-1. Talieu kept things going for SEMO with a 6-0, 6-0 win while Hlacikova grabbed the third Redhawks victory 6-2 and 6-1. Valeeva won her match 6-4, 6-1 and Calinescu also won her match 6-4 and 6-1. To close out the win for her team Lai finished the afternoon with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Hlacikova, originally from Slovakia, also said the weather was an advantage for her along with playing hard.

“I don't know. I've been struggling the last couple of matches, so I was just trying to stay consistent and that worked,” Hlacikova said. “I prefer the colder weather but not when it’s too windy and we’ll always love the sun as well.”

The Redhawks will return to the John C. Bierk Redhawks Tennis Complex on March. 23 at 2 p.m. when they take on SIUE, the team SEMO played in the 2023 OVC Championship.