Illinois States team of Liina Suurvarik and Alesia Mikalayeva captured the championship today at the 2001 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional.
Suurvarik/Mikalayeva defeated Indianas Schlukebir/Tran (8-5) to bring home the doubles title. This unstoppable team has been undefeated in the past three tournaments and now has a season record of 13-2. The girls ended last year with a record of 24-5.
In singles, both Suurvarik and Mikalayeva were defeated today, but not before both made it as far as the quarterfinal round of regional competition. Coach Hoover was not disappointed with the results, especially because ISU was the only school with players still competing in both singles and doubles competition, making for a tiring weekend.
We were the only people still playing both singles and doubles matches every day. By today, I think the girls were a little worn out, said Hoover. But it was hard fought until the end, and were pretty excited with the results.
As Regional Champions, Suurvarik/Mikalayeva have earned their spot in the national competition. But next up for the Redbirds is the University of Illinois Midwest Blast which runs Nov.9-11.
