Redhawks claim fourth straight win

~ Southeast closed its regular season with a 6-1 victory over Eastern Illinois.

The Southeast Missouri State women's tennis team ended the regular season with its fourth straight victory, rolling past visiting Eastern Illinois 6-1 Friday afternoon.

Southeast, posting its first winning regular-season record since 1997, improved to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

"Like all season, there were many, many contributors to a team victory," said Southeast third-year coach Jay Pacelli, whose team has won its last three OVC matches. "We still have a long way to go with our program, but we're making progress. We're very happy with the program right now."

The Redhawks won the doubles point by taking two of the three matches, then won five of six singles matches to close out the victory.

Freshman Julia Masotti improved her record to 18-5 at No. 3 singles, while sophomore twin sisters Bryce and Drew Kristal improved to 17-6 at No. 1 doubles. Masotti is 8-2 in OVC play and the Kristals are also 8-2.

"Julia has had a very good season, as have the Kristals in doubles," Pacelli said. "Bryce had a big singles victory today against a tough No. 1 player."

Bryce Kristal won a 10-4 tiebreaker to determine the No. 1 singles match after she and Sandra Sasidharan had split sets.

Southeast still is in the running for an OVC tournament berth, as the top six finishers in the 11-team league qualify. The Redhawks are in a battle with Jacksonville State and Morehead State for the final spot.

Morehead State currently is sixth at 4-4, with matches remaining against two of the league's better teams -- Tennessee Tech today and Eastern Kentucky on Monday.

Southeast is tied for seventh place with Jacksonville State, which also is done with its OVC schedule at 4-6.

In the event of a three-way tie for sixth place, the league's first two tiebreakers -- head-to-head competition and records against other OVC teams -- would not break the tie. The OVC will take a vote of the other coaches in the conference to select the team.

"We took care of our business, especially at the end of the season when the girls really started playing well," Pacelli said. "We will see about the conference tournament next week."

SOUTHEAST 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1

Singles

1. Bryce Kristal (S) def. Sandra Sasidharan 6-4, 6-7 (10-4)

2. Madina Mambetova (E) def. Drew Kristal 6-2, 6-1

3. Julia Masotti (S) def. Stephanie Harmazy 6-0, 6-1

4. Luz Garcia (S) def. Jill Wirtz 6-2, 5-7 (10-3)

5. Julia Negosek (S) def. Sam Lininger 6-0, 6-0

6. Kimmy Anderson (S) def. Cristina Carrillo 6-0, 6-1

Doubles

1. Kristal-Kristal (S) def. Mambetova-Wirtz 8-4

2. Sasidharan-Harmazy (E) def. Masotti-Negosek 8-6

3. Garcia-Morgan Kemp (S) def. Lininger-Carrillo 8-0