Southeast Missouri State tennis team opens 2013 season under new coach

~ Josh Moore hopes to lead the program to better days

The Southeast Missouri State women's tennis team was close to breaking through last year, but five one-point losses ruined that chance.

Rookie coach Josh Moore, armed with an experienced roster although it lacks depth, is hopeful the Redhawks can get over the hump this season. They open the campaign Saturday, hosting Arkansas State at 1 p.m.

"That's the goal," said Moore, who started the women's tennis program at Division II Texas A&M Kingsville before taking over at Southeast for Mark Elliott, whose contract was not renewed in April after six seasons. "A good part of our development this year is working on the whole mental aspect of it, expecting to win the close matches."

Moore will try to revive a Southeast program that has struggled for years but posted its most wins since 2008 last season.

Southeast went 5-12 overall and 2-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play, tied for eighth among 10 squads. The Redhawks last qualified for the OVC tournament in 2007 during Elliott's first year. Making the six-team field is the goal for this season.

"We're battling some injuries, but assuming everybody is able to play it will be a pretty big disappointment if we don't make it," said Moore, a graduate of Howard Payne University in Texas, where he played tennis. "We had a good fall. We improved a lot. But we don't have a whole lot of margin for error. We're kind of shorthanded this year."

Southeast, picked to finish ninth among 11 teams in the OVC preseason poll based on voting by the league's coaches, returns five of its six players from last year's regular lineup, led by senior Nikole Novikova and junior Elizabeth Nyenwe.

Novikova, Southeast's No. 1 single players since she was a freshman, made first-team all-OVC in 2011 and second team in 2010. The native of Bellevue, Wash., went 6-17 last year squaring off against elite competition at the top of the lineup.

Nyenwe, Southeast's No. 2 singles player the past two seasons, earned OVC freshman of the year honors in 2011, the first Southeast women's tennis player to win the award. The London native was 14-10 last year and is ranked No. 7 on the OVC preseason top 10 list based on voting by the league's coaches.

Novikova and Nyenwe both earned all-OVC first-team honors in 2011, marking the first time since 1996 that Southeast had two all-OVC performers in one season.

Senior Jessica Courtnell, sophomore Melissa Martin and junior Heather Robinson -- all from England -- primarily played the Nos. 3 through 5 positions last year.

Robinson had Southeast's top record of 13-4, while Martin went 13-9 and Courtnell was 7-14.

Rounding out the six-player roster is junior Lauren Schaper, a St. Louis native who went 1-4 last year in limited action at No. 6.

Moore said Robinson especially has improved and likely will begin the season at the top of the lineup, although which players compete at what spots could remain fluid.