A year after Southeast Missouri women's tennis captured its first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season Championship, the No. 2-seeded Redhawks (15-6) secured their first-ever OVC Tennis Tournament Championship Sunday afternoon with a 4-1 decision over top seeded Austin Peay (11-7).
The Redhawks dropped the doubles point to Austin Peay before reeling off four consecutive singles match wins to earn the 2022 OVC Tennis Tournament crown.
Trailing 1-0, SEMO evened the dual with a win at the fifth slot by Vivian Lai, followed by wins by Ksenia Shikanova at No. 3 and Myroslava Zelenchuk at the fourth slot. Teona Velkoska then secured the Championship for SEMO at the final singles position.
With the win Sunday, SEMO matched its win total of 15 from 2021 which was the team's highest win total in 28 years as the 1993 SEMO team finished the season with a mark of 17-6 (6-1 OVC).
With the 2022 OVC Tennis Tournament title, Southeast Missouri earns the league's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. It will be SEMO's first-ever appearance.
The Redhawks will take on #15-seeded Stanford (17-5) Friday in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship. The match is set for 3 p.m., CT Friday in Stanford, California.
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