After dominating the Missouri Valley Conference and winning the 2003 Valley Championship, the Illinois State womens tennis team will travel to Evanston, Ill., for the NCAA Regionals and take on No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth, Saturday, at 2 p.m., at the Vandie Christie Tennis Center.
The No. 4 seeded Birds swept through the Valley regular-season play, owning a 9-0 league record and a 15-7 overall record. In the Valley Tournament, ISU continued its dominance sweeping the tournament without dropping a set.
Playing at the No. 1 singles position all season, Liina Suurvarik has won 16 consecutive matches and has a 37-5 record, 15-0 in conference play. Laura Gravino was undefeated in the Valley with a 15-0 record, and is 26-6 overall. Both Suurvarik and Gravino were named Valley All-Conference athletes at the No. 1 and No. 3 singles positions, along with Alesia Mikalayeva and Alana Hoffman for No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles, respectively.
The Birds will have their hands full with VCU, who is ranked No. 9 in the country and have three nationally-ranked players. VCU is the only undefeated team in the nation at 23-0 and dropped 10 nationally-ranked teams this season.
In the other game of the regional, hosted by Northwestern, the Wildcats will take on Kansas State, at 10 a.m.
