EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.  -  SIUE tennis opened up Ohio Valley Conference play with a convincing win on Friday afternoon, as the Cougars took down UT Martin to kick off the OVC season with a 5-2 victory.

Doubles play saw a pair of ultra-competitive fixtures, as both No. 2 and No. 3 courts came down to a tie-breaker. The No. 1 pair of Jill Lambrechts and Maria Thibault earned a commanding 6-1 win on the first doubles court. The team of Jordan Schifano and Vanessa Reinicke dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker on the second court, tying up doubles at one all. The crucial doubles point came down to a tie-breaker on the No. 3 court, which went the way of the team of Melissa Vizcardo and Caitlyn Sporing and gave SIUE the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

"It's great to start off conference play with a win," said SIUE head coach Adam Albertsen following the match. "UT Martin threw everything at us and had tremendous fight. We got up big in some different spots in doubles and singles and they just battled and battled. So to come out with a 5-2 win, I'm very happy and proud of the way we played today."

Both programs traded points back and forth during singles play. Amber Hochstatter could not overcome a slow start and dropped the first conference singles bout of her collegiate career. Reinicke followed with SIUE's first singles point, regaining the 2-1 match advantage with a 6-0, 6-3 win on the No. 3 court. The Skyhawks leveled the scoreline once again on the No. 4 fixture, as Fabiola Perez dropped a narrow 7-6, 6-4 contest. However, the top two in the Cougar lineup would clinch the match with a pair of impressive outings.

"We know every week is going to be a battle. There's a lot of good teams in our conference. I think as an entire conference, the talent level is the highest it's ever been. So it's fun to see, it's great to start off 1-0, and now we turn our attention to SEMO."

Lambrechts extended her league-best win streak to 12 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on the No. 2 line to put the Red & White within striking distance of the win, before Schifano earned a thrilling 7-5, 7-5 win to clinch the match. A nail-biting win on the No. 6 court from Nicole Gomez sealed the fifth point for SIUE and led to the final margin. The Cougars' win on Friday marks the first time since the 2017 season that SIUE opened with a victory to begin conference play.

SIUE, which improves to 13-1 and 1-0 in OVC play, will make the trip to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a Sunday afternoon showdown against the preseason-favorite Southeast Missouri Redhawks. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.

"SEMO is a well-coached team, they're very strong from top to bottom," closed Albertsen. "We played them tough last year and we're really excited to have another shot at them and play them again Sunday."