March 18, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State tennis travels to Hilton Head Island, S.C. to play four matches over spring break. The Redhawks begin play at 8 a.m. Wednesday against Huntington University out of Huntington, Ind. On Thursday, Southeast will square off versus the University of Sioux Falls at noon. Friday they will play Hope College from Holland, Mich. at 8 a.m. To finish out play in Hilton Head the Redhawks face Middlebury College from Middlebury, Vt at 9 a.m. All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (EST). Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, Jayson Santos, accompanied the team on the trip.

The Redhawks are playing well of late, winning their last three matches in conference and overall as well. Over the weekend, Southeast defeated Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) opponent Tennessee State and Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) by perfect 7-0 margins. Head coach Mark Elliott has led the squad to a 6-5 overall record and a 3-1 mark in OVC play.

In singles competition, all six Redhawks brings winning streaks into the spring break trip. Junior Drew Kristal (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) and freshman Elise Nattier (Flora, Ill./Flora) currently are on five-match winning streaks in No. 2 and No. 5 singles, respectively. No. 1 singles player Bryce Kristal (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) leads the team with a 7-3 record and joins Julia Masotti (Moji-Mirim, São Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Integral Aplicado) and Kimmy Anderson (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) with three consecutive victories. Senior Luz Garcia (Bogota, Colombia/Troy) has won her last two matches in No. 3 singles competition.

On the doubles side, the Kristal sisters are 8-3 overall, 3-1 in the OVC. Together, they have won five straight matches. In No. 2 doubles, Masotti and Nattier have won their last two matches and seniors Garcia and Anderson won their last doubles match in No. 3 competition.

Southeast will return to Cape Girardeau following Saturday's match and will return to OVC play against Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday, March 27 at 2 p.m. All home matches are played at the Redhawks Tennis Complex located at the intersection of Bertling and Sprigg Streets, directly across from the Southeast Softball Complex.