April 9, 2005

CHARLESTON, Ill. - (Saturday, April 9, 2005) - The last time the Southeast Missouri State tennis team won six duals in a single season the majority of the current team members were still in grade school. On Saturday morning the Redhawks graduated to a new era and class of Redhawks tennis as they defeated Indiana/Purdue-Fort Wayne 6-1 at Darling Courts in Charleston, Illinois for their sixth dual victory of the season, surpassing the combined win total of the past two seasons. The six victories are the most wins by a Southeast tennis team since the 1998-99 team went 6-11 in duals.

The Redhawks (6-13, 2-6 OVC) started off quickly winning the doubles point for the 1-0 lead.

Bryce Kristal (Pleasanton, Ca./Foothill) and Drew Kristal (Pleasanton, Ca./Foothill) won their eighth doubles match of the season defeating Ashley Coulson and Jill Carie 8-5 in the No. 1 doubles match.

Not to be outdone the No. 2 doubles team of Daniela Garcia (Lima, Peru) and Ashley Hooper (Orangeville, Ontario) coasted against Beth Miller and Jessica Vervynckt 8-2. The win was the duo's sixth of the season and snapped a four-match losing streak.

The Mastodons won the No. 3 doubles match when Hanna Hager and Lisa Bartelheim defeated Puja Paul (Kolkata, West Bengal, India/Binodini Girls) and Miranda Petrea (Iuka, Ill./Salem) 8-2. For Petrea and Paul it was only their second doubles match of the year but still played tough in the lost.

Holding a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play the Redhawks felt good about their chances of winning the dual. They didn't disappoint as they won the first four matches to clinch the victory and put a smile on Head Coach Jay Pacelli's face.

Bryce Kristal won her team-leading tenth match of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Coulson in the No. 1 singles match.

Drew Kristal was just as impressive in her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Hager in No. 2 singles.

Garcia had little trouble with Bartelheim, cruising to her eighth win of the season 6-2, 6-1 in No. 3 singles action.

In the No. 4 singles match Hooper broke out of a personal slump and recorded a tightly contested match against Carie. Hooper won the first set 6-4 but then fell in the second set 6-7 (5-7). In the super-tiebreaker Hooper prevailed 13-11.

"Ashley (Hooper) had a very determined effort in a marathon match and super-tiebreaker," said Pacelli. "She used her attacking forehand very well in the victory."

The Mastadons got on the board when Miller defeated Kimmy Anderson (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 5 singles match.

Kim Roberts (Victoria, British Columbia/Claremont Secondary) closed the victory out on a positive note in the No. 6 singles match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Vervynckt. It was Roberts ninth win of the season which is second on the team.

"The athletes showed great character in coming back strong today against IPFW after a heartbreaking loss to Eastern Illinois on Friday," said Pacelli. "I'm extremely proud of all eight athletes and they should be proud of themselves for their effort."

The Redhawks end the regular season this week when they host OVC rival Tennessee-Martin on Monday, April 11 at the Southeast Tennis Complex. A victory would assure the Redhawks a berth to the OVC Tennis Championships. Doubles play begins at 2:30 p.m. with singles play following immediately afterwards.