HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana tennis team will look to close an impressive fall on a high note when they compete in the season-ending Southern Miss Halloween Classic, scheduled for this weekend and hosted by USM.
 
Southeastern is coming off an excellent showing at last week's UWF Fall Fling in Pensacola, Fla. All four Lion freshmen went undefeated in singles play, while the top doubles tandem of freshmen Sarah Kriem and Reginka Nychytailova advanced to the finals.
 
Southeastern will face a tough test in its final tournament of the fall. In addition to the Lions and host USM, the field includes Southeastern's Southland Conference rivals Lamar, Northwestern State, Nicholls State and Central Arkansas, as well as Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jackson State and Murray State.
 
All seven Lions will be in action on Friday. In the Black Flight, freshman Nastya Tokareva will open with a 10:30 a.m. match with ULM's Sophie Rufyikiri. At 12 p.m., Nychytailova plays UCA's Sasha Ruocco in the first round of the Green Draw.
 
Kriem will face Nicholls' Natalia Cardiff, who is competing unattached, in the opening round of the Gold Draw at 10:30 a.m. ULM's Justyna Kroi awaits Lion freshman Renee Villareal in the Orange Draw first round at 10:30 a.m.
 
Southeastern sophomore Adriana Castillo has a bye in the opening round and awaits the winner of the first round match between Jackson State's Aleksandra Cmiljic and Catherine Gauthier of Nicholls. Castillo's quarterfinal match in the Yellow Draw is set for 3:30 p.m. Castillo's fellow sophomore Morgane Charpenne will open play in the Red Draw with a 12 p.m. match versus Isidora Knezevic.
 
Southeastern's lone senior Isabel Brito will make her singles debut this weekend. She will open play at 10:30 a.m. facing Kelly Tomlin of Jackson State in the Purple Draw first round.
 
The busy day for the Lions starts at 8:30 a.m. with three doubles matches. Nychytailova and Kriem will look to build on their 6-1 fall doubles mark when they face Cardiff and Parija Maloo of Nicholls in the White Draw first round. Castillo and Villarreal are in the Peach Draw, facing Ashley Canty and Megan Blue of Murray State. Brito and Tokareva will team for the first time this week, matching up with Louisiana-Lafayette's Melissa Burkhartt and Hannah Appleyard in the opening round of the Orange Draw.
 
Southeastern will get a good indication of where they are heading into the spring after this weekend. The Lions open the 2013 portion of their schedule on Feb. 1, facing Jackson State at 1 p.m.