Southeast Notches Conference Victory at Tennessee Tech, 4-3 :: Redhawks improve to 4-3 in OVC competition and 10-9 overall

April 1, 2007

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri State tennis (10-9, 4-3 OVC) defeated Tennessee Tech, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon in Cookeville, Tenn. Freshman Elise Nattier (Flora, Ill./Flora) withstood five match points on the No. 4 singles court to win her match and the dual for the Redhawks.

In doubles action, twin sisters, Bryce Kristal (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) and Drew Kristal (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) were defeated 8-2 in the No. 1 match by Marina Ruiz and Amy Anstey. Julia Masotti (Moji-Mirim, São Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Integral Aplicado) and Nattier fell by the same margin to Margot Carter and Evgenia Yartseva which earned the doubles point for Tech. Seniors Kimmy Anderson (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) and Luz Garcia (Bogota, Colombia/Troy) won by forfeit in the No. 3 match.

Singles play was also close between two even-matched teams. Bryce Kristal won her team-best 13th singles match over Carter, 6-1, 6-3. She is now 5-2 in OVC play. Her sister, Drew Kristal, dropped the No. 2 contest to Anstey, 6-2, 6-4. Masotti fell to Ruiz on the No. 3 court, 6-0, 6-3. Nattier came out on top of the match of the day in No. 4 singles action against Yartseva. She won the first set, 7-6, by winning the tiebreaker, 6-2. Yartseva battled back to take the second set, 6-3. In the deciding frame, Nattier went up 5-1 before Yartseva mounted a comeback. She came all the way back and had five chances to close out the match. Nattier fought off all five match points and went on to win the contest by another 7-6 margin, winning the deciding tiebreaker, 6-4. Her match finished roughly an hour later than the rest of the competitors. She improves her OVC record to 5-2 and her overall mark to 10-8 as a true freshman.

Head coach Mark Elliott and the Redhawks will host two weekday afternoon matches on Wednesday and Thursday at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. Wednesday the Billikens of Saint Louis University visit with first serve scheduled for 3 p.m. The following day, Southeast will return to OVC play versus Austin Peay with the start slated for 2 p.m.