SIUE tennis dropped its first Ohio Valley Conference fixture of the season by the narrowest of margins on Tuesday afternoon, as the Cougars fell in a 4-3 affair to the Southeast Missouri Redhawks.
The Cougars could not find their footing on the doubles courts to start the match, as the Redhawks took the wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts to clinch the point. The team of Jill Lambrechts and Maria Thibault led 5-2 on the No. 1 court, but the fixture went unfinished.
SEMO quickly doubled its lead on the No. 1 singles court, as Jordan Schifano fell in a 6-2, 6-1 fashion. However, Lambrechts continued her run of dominant form on the No. 2 court, earning a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win to extend her winning streak to 13 to bring SIUE within one point. The Cougars leveled the scoreline on the No. 4 court, as Fabiola Perez notched a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 victory to improve to 11-3 in singles play this spring. The Redhawks would pull ahead once more in the No. 6 match, as Nicole Gomez fell in three sets (6-2, 1-6, 3-6). SEMO would clinch the match shortly after in one of the most tightly-contested singles bouts of the season. Freshman Amber Hochstatter gave her Redhawk opponent all she could handle, earning a 6-2 first set win before dropping a pair of 7-5 sets to fall in three sets. The Cougars would not quit, as Vanessa Reinicke gave the Cougars their third point of the match with an exhilarating 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-4 win on the No. 3 court.
"We played well but just came up short as a team," said SIUE Head Coach Adam Albertsen following the match. "After doubles, we were able to regroup and grab five first sets to keep the pressure on them. We knew it would be a battle, give SEMO credit for playing great."
The Cougars (13-2, 1-1 OVC) will return to action this weekend to complete their three-match road swing. SIUE will begin the weekend on Friday afternoon at Austin Peay before closing out the weekend on Saturday afternoon at Murray State.
"The OVC is filled with some great teams and we now turn our attention to next weekend and Austin Peay," closed Albertsen. "We will continue to work and get better."
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