ST. LOUIS, Mo. - SIUE women's tennis upset top-seeded Southeast Missouri 4-1 in the championship match of the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Championships at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.

"This team has worked so hard to get to this moment," said SIUE Head Coach Adam Albertsen. "All nine players have contributed throughout the season, and we are pumped to move onto the National Tournament and continue this amazing season."

SIUE, 18-3, advances to the NCAA Tournament. The brackets for the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships will be announced April 29th at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.

"What an incredible effort and performance by our entire team today," said Albertsen. "We talked about playing our best tennis of the year and really needed that double point. All three pairings had an extremely strong showing and gave us a chance on every court. Cydney Rogers and Fabiola Perez raced to a quick clean set which help keep pressure up on every other court. Our seniors Jill Lambrechts and Jordan Schifano clinched it and gave us tons of momentum going into singles play."

Perez and Rogers defeated SEMO's Maja Bajorek and Lera Valeeva 6-3 at No. 3 doubles. Lambrechts and Schifano earned the clinching doubles point with a 7-5 winner at No. 2 doubles over Trinity Calinescu and Vivian Lai.

Needing just three singles wins to clinch the championship was a big boost for the Cougars yet SIUE won four first sets among the singles matches.

"Grabbing four first sets and competing at a high level on all six courts kept us in a tremendous spot," said Albertsen. 

Lambrechts, despite not finishing her singles match, played a key role with a 7-6 first set victory over SEMO's Daniela Hlacikova, the OVC's Player of the Year.

"Jill taking the first set off the OVC player of the year was really big. Jordan and Fabiola stepped up with straight set wins. Both played extremely clean to keep us rolling," noted Albertsen.

Schifano would be the first Cougar to win her singles match, a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Juliette Talieu at No. 3 singles. Perez made it 3-0 SIUE with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Maja Bajorek at No. 5 singles.

SEMO would gather its lone point at No. 6 singles as Lera Valeeva outlasted SIUE's Cydney Rogers 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Margaux Guibal Britt stepped up for the Cougars and helped the Cougars to history with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Calinescu.

"How about Margaux?" said Albertsen. "After dropping a quick first set, she regrouped and got back to playing the way she can. Mixing her point and staying patient in her shot selection completely changed the match. She stepped up in a huge moment and showed why she is one of the best players in the conference."