April 14, 2007

By Tyler Koonce, Tennis Contact

Final Stats

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State tennis fell 4-3 to Eastern Kentucky (EKU) in their final regular season match. The match was originally scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. but due to rain it was delayed until 4 p.m. Both teams battled cold and windy conditions in a closely conteseted dual. Southeast will be the No. 6 seed in next week's OVC Tournament. They will face the top seed in the first round Friday. They will not know their opponent until after Sunday's OVC action is complete, with a possible matchup against Eastern Illinois.

To start the match, head coach Mark Elliott and EKU head coach Rob Oertel agreed to play singles first in order to see if doubles would be necessary in the cold weather conditions. As it turned out, both sides won three singles matches each, with juniorBryce Kristal (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) pulling out a three-set victory on the No. 1 court to force the match to the deciding doubles point.

Kristal dropped the first sets, 6-4, but rebounded to win the next two over Svetland Pimenova by 6-3 margins. She finishes the regular season 17-6 and 8-2 in OVC play. Her twin sister, Drew Kristal (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill), was defeated 6-3, 6-2 by Alexandra Sitnikova on the No. 2 court. Senior Luz Garcia (Bogota, Colombia/Troy) fell to Lucia Vojtkova, 6-2, 6-1 in her final home match in No. 3 play. Julia Masotti (Moji-Mirim, São Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Integral Aplicado) came up short against Jemma Euers in No. 4 action. Freshman Elise Nattier (Flora, Ill./Flora) won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 on the No. 5 court over Casie Phillips. She finishes the regular season 7-3 in OVC play and 12-11 overall in her first season on the collegiate level. Senior Kimmy Anderson (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) was dominant in her final home match, beating Page Ashby, 6-0, 6-0 in No. 6 competition.

In doubles action, EKU had just a little more than Southeast to close out the match. The Kristal sisters fell 8-1 to Pimenova and Sitnikova in the No. 1 match. Masotti and Nattier were beaten 8-3 by Vojtkova and Euers in the No. 2 contest to earn the doubles point and win the match for EKU. Seniors Garcia and Anderson were credited with a victory as they were leading 6-4 when EKU earned the doubles point, making it unnecessary to continue playing through the harsh weather conditions. They conclude their senior regular season with eight doubles wins as a tandem.

Southeast falls to 5-5 in the OVC and 11-13 overall. They will depart on thursday for the OVC Tournament in Nasvhille, Tenn. Southeast is the host school for both the 2007 men's and women's tournaments.