In day one action of the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships, the Redbird womens tennis team made strides toward their title goals. In singles action, eight of the nine competitors claimed victory in the quarterfinal round, while all four of the doubles pairs advanced.
Elizabeth Bingier defeated Jaime Noyce of Northern Iowa 6-2, 6-2 to claim a Flight 2 victory, while Carolyn Parent won a preliminary match against Wichita States Marisa Simmons 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, before defeating Agnes Puske of Northern Iowa 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of Flight 3. Laura Gravino knocked off Evansvilles Emily Krodel 6-1, 6-0 in Flight 4, while Emilie Sechaud defeated Cheen Alkahatib of Drake 6-3, 6-1 in preliminary action, and then Carolina Ardila of Southwest Missouri State 6-1, 6-3 in the Flight 5 quarterfinals.
In Flight 6 Ashley Maxwell notched a win over Drakes Melissa Rippey 6-0, 6-0, while Vronique Parke-Bdard defeated Nicole Thurston of Creighton 6-2, 6-4 in Flight 7. Also in Flight 7, Matea Simovic claimed a victory over Northern Iowas Sara Kendall, 6-2, 6-2 and Daniella Renovales defeated Jess Sampias of Bradley 6-2, 6-1. Head coach Chris Hoover was pleased with his teams day one efforts, and is anxious to see how the tournament plays out.
I thought everything went very well today, said Hoover. We played well, there were plenty of good matches, especially early on in the day. Were right where we want to be at this point and Im looking forward to continuing tomorrow.
In doubles play the duo of Katri Miller and Parke-Bdard defeated Kelley Wood and Elise Montrose of Bradley 8-5 in the Flight 1 prelims, before notching a victory over Jessica Jetton and Beth Peyton of Evansville 8-5 in the quarterfinals. In Flight 2 preliminary action Parent and Maxwell teamed to defeat Magda Faferck and Imane Lahlou of Indiana State 8-2, before claiming a quarterfinal win over Nicole Kirley and Teri Chan of Bradley 8-2. Gravino and Sechaud paired to defeat Creightons Lisa Ludwig and Christina Alexander 8-3 in Flight 3, while Bingier and Simovic defeated Sara Kendall and Samantha Schnobel of Northern Iowa 8-3 in Flight 3 preliminary action, before knocking off Drakes Melissa Rippey and Erin Thomas 8-1 in the quarterfinals.
The Birds No. 1 singles player, Katri Miller, was forced to take an injury default in her Flight 1 quarterfinal match due to a nagging elbow injury. Miller is expected to continue play in Flight 1 doubles competition with partner Vronique Parke-Bdard when championship action resumes with the semi-final round Saturday morning at 8 a.m. at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.
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