WE'RE TALKING PLAYOFFS
For the first time since 2017, SIUE tennis has secured a berth in the Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship, to be held from Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1 in Evansville, Indiana. While the six-team field is set, seeding very much remains up for grabs. Below are scenarios impacting SIUE's potential seeding:
For SIUE to earn No. 4 seed...
- SIUE defeats Eastern Illinois (4/22)
- Eastern Illinois defeats SIUE (4/22) AND Austin Peay defeats Murray State (4/23)
- While SIUE and Murray State would both end the regular season with the same record, SIUE holds the tiebreaker by virtue of the Cougars' 7-0 win at Murray State (4/9)
For SIUE to earn No. 5 seed...
- Eastern Illinois defeats SIUE (4/22) AND Murray State defeats Austin Peay (4/23)
SENIOR DAY
Three Cougar seniors -
Nicole Gomez,
Vanessa Reinicke, and
Maria Thibault - will be honored prior to the start of tomorrow's match. Festivities are scheduled to begin at approximately 12:45 p.m. at the SIUE Tennis Courts.
TRIPLE DOUBLES
SIUE's potent doubles play was recognized as the best in the Ohio Valley Conference for two consecutive weeks to start the season, as
Caitlyn Sporing and
Melissa Vizcardo's impressive efforts garnered the duo's first OVC Doubles Team of the Week honors for the week of February 21. This award followed the announcement, which saw
Vanessa Reinicke and
Jordan Schifano earn Doubles Team of the Week the week prior. And two weeks ago, the team of
Jill Lambrechts and
Maria Thibault became the third-different SIUE doubles team to claim OVC Doubles Team of the Week honors. The Cougars won three of the first four Doubles Team of the Week honors awarded by the OVC this season, becoming the first program in league history to accomplish the feat.
CONSISTENT IMPROVEMENT
Since assuming the helm of the SIUE tennis program, Head Coach
Adam Albertsen has seen the Cougars improve at a pace matched by few other programs in Division I tennis.
Albertsen oversaw a six-win increase during his first season, followed by a three-win improvement in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign. In the 2021 spring season, the Cougars reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2016. And now in his fourth season in Edwardsville, the program has more than doubled its win total from his first season, reaching 15 wins with one match remaining.
HISTORY MADE
The Cougars put together their best start in six seasons and their second-best start in the program's Division I era with nine consecutive wins to begin the 2022 season.
- 2016-17 (21-0)
- 2021-22 (9-0)
- 2020-21 (3-0)
2011-12 (3-0)
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Eastern Illinois Panthers enter Friday's contest at 3-17 overall and 1-5 in OVC play. EIU's lone OVC win came vs. Tennessee State (4/15). The Panthers' two other wins came against IUPUI and D-III opponent DePauw University (Ind.).
