EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE women's tennis opened the Ohio Valley Conference season on a positive note Saturday with a 7-0 victory over visiting Tennessee State at the SIUE Tennis Courts.

"I really like how we came out and handled the wind and elements of playing outdoors," said SIUE Head Coach Adam Abertsen. "The entire team played smart and picked up an OVC win. Now we will focus on a good week of practice before our first conference road match next weekend."

The Cougars ran their season record to 9-2 along with the first OVC match. Tennessee State fell to 0-8 overall and 0-1 in the OVC.

All of SIUE's singles wins were in straight sets.

After winning the doubles point, SIUE's Paloma Hennicaux defeated Aroa Arriera Castillo 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. Stefaniya Anikina made it 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles over Julie Tungamirai. Cydney Rogers was the deciding point at No. 6 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Claudia Murdasanu.

The Cougars also picked up singles wins from Jessica Li at No. 4 singles, Margaux Guibal Britt at No. 1 singles and Elena Palioura at No. 2 singles.

Next up for the Cougars is a road OVC contest at Southeast Missouri next Sunday.