Young Redhawks begin important Fall season

Southeast tennis began its fall individual season Sept. 15 and looks to carry that momentum into the spring team season.

Head coach Mary Gunn said although this fall season is strictly individual with no points awarded, it is not considered preseason and should not be taken lightly.

Senior Anais Emelie who came to Cape Girardeau from Palaiseau, France, said the team has big goals for this season.

“The first goal is to go to the OVC tournament, and to go as far as possible,” Emelie said. “It would be nice to go on and win it, especially because I think we have the team to [do it].”

Emelie, one of two seniors on the team, played toward the end of last season in doubles competition alongside then junior Isabella Krupa, who missed most of spring 2018 with injuries. Together, Krupa and Emelie ended the season on a high note, winning back- back doubles matches late in the season.

“We are strong at every spot,” Emelie said.

“We have a lot of strong people, which helps to have strong people at every position,” Krupa said.

Gunn said one of the main differences between last year's team and this year’s team is the obvious improvement in squad depth. The team returned Krupa off of injury, and added four freshmen.

Among the group is Sneha Sinha, from Germantown Tennessee. She reached the championship match in her first tournament, the Clarksville Singles Tournament Invitational on Sept. 14-15.

“She had a really good tournament, for her first tournament that’s a really big deal,” Emelie said.

“It’s exciting to see freshmen getting a hang of things really quickly, and for them to understand the team attitude already,” Krupa said.

As the team looks to compete for the OVC crown in the 2019 spring season, delete Krupa and Emelie pointed out one distinct advantage the Redhawks will have working for them.

“It’s very rare to have a lot of lefties. It makes a real difference in doubles; that way we have a pairing of one lefty and one righty in each spot,” Krupa said.

“[And] righties have to play backwards because our forehands goes the [opposite way], and so does our spin,” said Emelie a left hander, who said she feels this creates an advantage.

Krupa said 10 percent of players in the world on a competitive level play from the southpaw position, and that the Redhawks will feature three left handers.

The Redhawks next play in the Iowa City Regional from Oct. 12 to 16.