PEORIA, Ill. - The South Dakota women's tennis team improved its record to 5-3 on the season with wins over Southeast Missouri State (4-3) and Bradley (7-0) in nonconference action Saturday in Peoria, Ill.

The win against Southeast Missouri State was keyed by winning the doubles point. The Coyotes won all three matches to earn the team doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, senior Alena Sergeychik (Moscow, Russia) and senior Shadi Soleymani (Vasteras, Sweden) recorded a hard-fought 8-7 win, winning the tiebreaker by an 8-5 count. Freshman Nina Barudzic (Kragujevac, Serbia) and sophomore Michelle Elkin (Omaha, Neb.) earned an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles, while junior Veronika Makashov (Richmond Hill, Ontario) and freshman Yamini Reddy (Bangalore, Ind.) earned an 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles.

In singles, both teams won three matches. Reddy (Bangalore, India) recorded the first Coyote singles point with a 6-2, 6-1 win over SE Missouri's Laura Garcia at No. 6 singles. SE Missouri won the next three singles matches that were completed, but the Coyotes answered with a win by Makashov at No. 5 singles, a 6-2, 6-3 decision.

The final - and deciding - match was the No. 3 singles match between Soleymani and SE Missouri's Jessica Courtnell. Soleymani lost the first set in a tiebreaker, but came back to win the final two sets, 6-1, 6-2.

"Our senior captain came through in the clutch and clinched that for us," South Dakota head coach Malcolm Gilreath said.

Against Bradley, the Coyotes didn't lose a set in singles as Elkin, Sergeychik, Soleymani, Barudzic, Makashov and Reddy all won in straight sets. The Coyotes also won all three doubles matches.

"I'm very pleased with our doubles," Gilreath said. "We've made some adjustments in our lineup and the chemistry is good. We're looking forward to competing in Florida next week."