March 12, 2009

By Brett Maikowski, Tennis Contact

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks will take on four opponents this weekend in Jonesboro, Ark. starting Saturday at noon. The list of teams Southeast will go up against includes Texas-El Paso, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, and Louisiana-Monroe.

The Redhawks are coming off a 7-0 loss to the Mastodons of IPFW last Tuesday. Although not indicated by the outcome, Southeast showed signs of improvement as Julia Masotti and Elise Nattier competed in a tightly contested doubles match in which it came down to the final point to decide the winner. Also, Anna LeBoeuf was able to pick up three games in her collegiate tennis debut in the No. 4 singles spot.

SCOUTING THE MINERS

The Redhawks will take on the Texas-El Paso Miners Saturday at noon. UTEP has won eight of their last ten matches dating back to February 7 which gives them an overall record of 9-3. They did recently have some struggles though against North Texas last Saturday as they fell 6-1 without their top two players competing that day. Those players, Weronika Bloczynska and Martina Trierweiler, hold records of 10-1 and 5-2 respectively.

SCOUTING THE LADY TECHSTERS

Southeast will go up against the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (1-9) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Their first win didn't come until eight matches into the year on February 27 against South Dakota State. They are now back on a two match losing streak as they dropped matches against Southern and Southern Methodist University by margins of 4-3 and 7-0. In No. 1 singles, the Lady Techsters have still been unable to pick up any wins as they are 0-10 on the year. The other spots in the lineup have been almost as unsuccessful as they hold the best record in No. 4 singles at 4-4.

SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS

The Redhawks will compete against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at 9 a.m. on Sunday. The Warhawks are currently .500 this season with a 4-4 record. In their last two competitions, they split their home matches against Lamar and UALR by reverse scores of 4-3 and 3-4. Vivian Polak in the No. 1 spot has dropped her last two, while Lena Satge has fallen in her past three matches in the No. 1 and 2 slots in the lineup.

SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES

The Redhawks will play the Arkansas State Red Wolves at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Red Wolves are sitting on a 5-5 record after coming off a 6-1 victory against McNeese State University last Monday. ASU will enter this weekend starting a seven match home stand on which they hope to take advantage of since they have travelled for their last nine matches. The Red Wolves are led by Jenny Herring in No. 1 singles as she hopes to extend her current three match winning streak. Following in No. 2 play, Paula Chelminska holds a 6-4 record after winning her last match. In doubles, Elne Barnard and Paula Chelminska have been the most successful tandem as they hold a 7-3 mark in No. 2 doubles.