Southeast Missouri State's women's tennis team has found success over the past two weekends ,winning on Sept. 1 at the William Woods tournament and competing on Sept. 10 in the Tennessee-Martin Invitational.

After finishing last season 1-19, coach Mary Beth Gunn has made many efforts to create a "culture of champions" for this year's team. Gunn began coaching at Southeast in November of 2015.

"This year's team is really great," Gunn said. "They just work hard, and they've got great character, which makes a big difference when it comes to competing at this level."

During their opening weekend of the fall season, Southeast competed at William Woods and claimed victory.

"One thing we did very well was cheering each other on no matter the situation," sophomore Ana Canahuate-Torres said. "Everyone was yelling my name and it helped me a lot."

Canahuate-Torres and freshman Joanne Hollings dropped their first match, 8-1, which led them to the consolation bracket at William Woods. They went on to win two matches to win the consolation bracket. Seniors Annisa Warasanti and Mila Majtan ran the table, going on to win the championship over University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8-1.

"Watching them compete during our opening weekend showed us where we stand," Gunn said. "Of course we have a lot of work to do, but I like where we stand right now."

For sophomore Anais Emelie, her confidence has improved over the past year at Southeast, helping her compete.

"Coach really does believe in me. I can feel it," Emelie said. "I've had coaches in the past that would scream at me for just one bad shot. Coach Gunn doesn't do that, she keeps encouraging me and believing in me."

Emelie and freshman Kseniya Zonova paired when competing at William Woods and went 2-0.

During their second outing, Southeast competed at the University of Tennessee-Martin and only picked up one victory by sophomore Isabella Krupa, but Gunn saw promising resilience despite the losses the team suffered.

"At Martin, we faced singles more than we did doubles, which is what we competed really well with at William Woods," Gunn said. "This team is the hardest working, most encouraging team I've seen in a long time."

The goal for the team is to win the OVC championship at the end of the season. Southeast's women's tennis team has never reached this feat.

"One of my favorite parts is that we could make history if we work hard enough," Canahuate-Torres said. "I can say that it really gives me that drive to achieve what may seem like the impossible for many, but it really feels possible for us."

Southeast will compete next on Friday and Saturday in the Southern Illinois-Carbondale Invitational.