The Illinois State womens tennis team was on its guard to not become victim to a conference loss on April Fools Day. The Birds left their opponents from Indiana State and Bradley fooled, winning both matches in the first weekend of conference play.
In the battle of ISU, the Redbirds came out on top, 6-1, prior to sweeping Bradley later in the afternoon, 6-0.
Illinois State battled back in two doubles matches against Indiana State, with the No. 2 team of Alana Hoffman and Zana Friganovic fighting from a 7-3 deficit to take the match 9-7. Shelby Lipson and Brigette Zarazee faced a challenge at No. 3 from Lisa Herndon and Laura Whitney, but prevailed in the tie-breaking round, 9-8 (7-1). At No. 1, Alesia Mikalayeva and Liina Suurvarik cruised through their match, winning 8-3.
We were excited about this weekend, starting conference play and playing matches again, Friganovic said. I think Alanas and my doubles match was a good win for us. Fighting back and winning was exciting. It turned out the way we had planned. We are in the homestretch now and cant lose those matches.
In singles, Alesia Mikalayeva won both matches at No. 1, 6-2, 6-1 against Indiana States Karen Human and 6-0, 6-0 against Bradleys Lisa Justice. At No. 2, Liina Suurvarik defeated Sycamore Jen Earl 6-0, 6-0 and Brave Mary Mihm 6-2, 6-0. Friganovic also won both matches at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-7, 10-3 over INSUs Carolina Salinas and 6-1, 6-0 over Marcie Cain from Bradley.
Freshman Elizabeth Bingier won her match at No. 4 against Bradleys Kim Sommer, 6-2, 6-0. Shelby Lipson, playing in the No. 5 spot, beat Lisa Herndon of INS, 6-2, 6-1 and Bradleys Jessie Paterson, 6-1, 6-0. Brigette Zarazee collected her 20th and 21st wins of the year from Laura Whitney 6-3, 6-0 and Beth Hoag 6-2, 6-1.
This weekend was not bad considering we lost only one singles match, head coach Chris Hoover said. Hopefully we can build on it because well need it against Northern Iowa and Drake. We needed this to build momentum going into the tougher part of the conference schedule.
The Birds (11-5, 2-0) return to action next Saturday when they entertain Creighton and Northern Iowa.
Illinois State 6 Indiana State 1
Singles
1. Alesia Mikalayeva (IL) def. Karen Human (IN) 6-2, 6-1
2. Liina Suurvarik (IL) def. Jen Earl (IN) 6-0, 6-0
3. Zana Friganovic (IL) def. Carolina Salinas (IN) 6-4, 6-7,10-3
4. Lori Wilson (IN) def. Elizabeth Bingier (IL) 3-6, 6-2, 10-7
5. Shelby Lipson (IL) def. Lisa Herndon (IN) 6-2, 6-1
6. Brigette Zarazee (IL) def. Laura Whitney (IN) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Mikalayeva/Suurvarik (IL) def. Human/Earl (IN) 8-3
2. Friganovic/Alana Hoffman (IL) def. Salinas/Wilson (IN) 9-7
3. Lipson/Zarazee (IL) def. Herndon/Whitney (IN) 9-8 (7-1)
Illinois State 6 Bradley 0
1. Alesia Mikalayeva (ISU) def. Lisa Justice (BU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Liina Suurvarik (ISU) def. Mary Mihm (BU) 6-2, 6-0
3. Zana Friganovic (ISU) def. Marcie Cain (BU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Elizabeth Bingier (ISU) def. Kim Sommer (BU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Shelby Lipson (ISU) def. Jessie Paterson (BU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Brigette Zarazee (ISU) def. Beth Hoag (BU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles Were Not Played
