SIUE (6-0, 0-0 OVC) vs. St. Thomas [Minn.] (0-4, 0-0 Summit)         Saturday, Feb. 19  |  11:00 a.m. CT  |  Waterloo, Iowa
Live Stats	iOnCourt
Team Info	SIUE | St. Thomas [Minn.]

SIUE (6-0, 0-0 OVC) at UNI (0-4, 0-0 Missouri Valley)            Sunday, Feb. 20  |  10:00 a.m. CT  |  Waterloo, Iowa
Live Stats	iOnCourt
Team Info	SIUE | UNI

LAST TIME OUT
A truly impressive start to the season has continued for the Cougars, as SIUE improved to 6-0 over the weekend with a pair of commanding shutout victories over William Woods [Mo.] and McKendree [Ill.].

AN HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT
Vanessa Reinicke and Jordan Schifano became the first student-athletes to ever win the Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week award, as the team has put together a 6-0 start to the doubles campaign and has helped the Cougars secure the doubles point in every match played this season. The OVC began selecting a doubles team of the week this season, so Reinicke and Schifano earning the honor is especially historic.
 
SO ABOUT LAST SEASON
The Cougars put together the first 10-win season of Head Coach Adam Albertsen's tenure at the helm in 2021, putting together a 10-7 overall record and a 3-4 mark in OVC play.
 
The Cougars were led in 2021 by then-true freshman Jordan Schifano, who earned Second Team All-OVC honors with an impressive 13-3 record in singles play. SIUE also saw contributions from Nicole Gomez, who put together a 10-2 record in singles play. The doubles squad of Jill Lambrechts and Maria Thibault proved to be the Red & White's most potent pair, going 7-3 overall.
 
HERE COME THE COUGARS
Head Coach Adam Albertsen enters his fourth season at the helm in 2022 looking to continue the trend of consistent improvement. The Cougars have improved in non-conference and OVC play in each of his first three seasons as Head Coach.
 
SIUE will be tested early and often this spring, as Albertsen has put together one of the most competitive schedules in the program's Division I era. The Red & White will face off against a trio of Missouri Valley Conference foes and four in-state rivals, as well as the program's first matchup against a FBS opponent since February 2, 2020 when the Cougars head to the Bluegrass State for a fixture at Western Kentucky. 
 
The highlight of the Cougars' non-conference slate will come over Spring Break, when SIUE will head to Orlando for a pair of neutral-site matches against Radford and Sacred Heart. The Cougars' match against Sacred Heart will see the two programs face off for the very first time. SIUE last met Radford in 2008, also as part of a neutral-site trip in Florida. This will be just the second-ever meeting between the Cougars and Highlanders.
 
WELCOME TO EDWARDSVILLE
The Cougars welcome one new student-athlete into the program this spring in true freshman Amber Hochstatter. The native of Wyanet, Illinois made her spring debut last weekend, earning a 6-2, 6-0 singles win in the No. 5 position against William Woods University before moving to the No. 4 court and earning a 6-3, 6-0 win against McKendree University. Hochstatter is 2-0 in singles match play and 5-3 in overall singles play including the fall season.

MAKING HISTORY
The Cougars are in the midst of their best start in six seasons and their second-best start in the program's Division I era. 

1. 2016-17 (21-0)
2. 2021-22 (6-0)
3. 2020-21 (3-0)
   2011-12 (3-0)

MAKING HISTORY (AGAIN)
SIUE has put together a string of dominant performances through the last four matches, as the Red & White have registered 7-0 shutout wins against each of their four previous opponents. This is the first time in the 43-year history of the SIUE tennis program that a Cougar squad has registered four consecutive shutout victories. 

SCOUTING THE TOMMIES
The University of St. Thomas Tommies enter their first season as a Division I program in 2022 after making the unprecedented jump directly from NCAA D-III to the NCAA D-I ranks. UST was among the finest program in D-III last season, putting together a 14-4 season and securing the school's first outright Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championship in more than a quarter-century. The Tommies advanced to the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship, shutting out Wisconsin-Whitewater in the opening round before falling in the Regional Final to eventual D-III National Semifinalist Kenyon College [Ohio].

The Cougars and Tommies, which enter Saturday's match at 0-4, have never met previously.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The University of Northern Iowa Panthers, in addition to hosting Saturday's match between SIUE and St. Thomas, will play host for Sunday's match. This is a return game for the Red & White, as UNI paid a visit to Edwardsville last season. SIUE handed the Panthers a 6-1 loss in their previous meeting on February 28, 2021. 

UNI finished last season at 2-14, with the Panthers' two wins coming against NAIA Cardinal Stritch University [Wis.] and NCAA D-II Upper Iowa University.  The Panthers currently sit at 0-4 on the season and will host St. Thomas on Friday at 3:30 p.m.