Four singles titles and two doubles titles were claimed by the Illinois State womens tennis team at the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships. Laura Gravino and Emilie Sechaud each earned their second consecutive singles titles, while Katri Miller repeated a championship doubles performance.
Gravino defeated Genevieve Spink of Wichita State for the Flight 4 crown in a 6-0, 6-1 victory, while Sechaud knocked off Northern Iowas Mariana Muraca 6-3, 6-3 in the Flight 5 championship match. Ashley Maxwell claimed a title victory over Meredith Esbeck of Northern Iowa 6-2, 6-3 in Flight 6, while Vronique Parke-Bdard earned the win in the only inter-team match-up against fellow Redbird Daniella Renovales in a 6-1, 6-2 Flight 7 victory.
Doubles action saw Miller team with Parke-Bdard in Flight 1 to defeat the Indiana State duo of Magda Narczewska and Marie Caujolle 9-8 (7-2) for the title. The other Redbird doubles title came in Flight 3 as Gravino and Sechaud defeated Marisa Simmons and Jackie Richey of Wichita State in an 8-1 victory. Head coach Chris Hoover thought the Birds had a strong weekend and was just as pleased with his players titles, as he was with their team pride.
This was a great weekend for us, especially when you really add it all up, said Hoover. We won six titles, had one second place finish and four third place finishes, which means that throughout the entire weekend we really only lost four or five matches, and one was to ourselves. When you go through an entire weekend with that many flights and have the outcome we did, thats pretty strong. I am very pleased with how the weekend turned out.
It was very evident that every match these kids stepped out onto the court ready to play, Hoover continued. Those third place matches are important to me because I feel that if were winning those, then were playing with a lot of pride. Sometimes when you lose in the semi-final rounds it can be difficult to want to continue to play hard, but those wins this weekend show we have pride in everything we do, and Im especially pleased to see that.
With the conclusion of the Valley Individual Championships the Birds have a successful fall season to look back on while they take a break and prepare for the spring. The spring season gets underway when the team hosts DePaul on January 28, but according to Normal Community West graduate and Illinois State junior tennis player Ashley Maxwell, that doesnt mean the team will take any time off.
Were going to use this winter to get healthy, get in the weight room and work hard on our academics, said Maxwell. This weekend our wins were very good, everyone played well and fought hard, and it was nice to see the team supporting each other. We didnt take anyone for granted and worked hard for every win, and this weekend showed we have the potential for a great spring season. So the plan is to continue working this winter, add it to what we accomplished in the fall, and it should equal a successful spring.
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Singles
No. 2 Marie Caujolle (Indiana State) def. Elizabeth Bingier (Illinois State) 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 (Third-place match) Carolyne Parent (Illinois State) def. Zuzana Palovic (Southern Illinois) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Laura Gravino (Illinois State) def. Genevieve Spink (Wichita State) 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 Emilie Sechaud (Illinois State) def. Marian Muraca (Northern Iowa) 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Ashley Maxwell (Illinois State) def. Meredith Esbeck (Northern Iowa) 6-2, 6-3
No. 7 Vronique Parke-Bdard (Illinois State) def. Daniella Renovales (Illinois State) 6-1, 6-2
(Third-place match) Matea Simovic (Illinois State) def. Samantha Schnobel (Northern Iowa) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 Miller/Parke-Bdard (Illinois State) def. Narczewska/Caujolle (Indiana State) 9-8 (7-2)
No. 2 (Third-place match) Parent/Maxwell (Illinois State) def Palovic/Hornestam (Southern Illlinois) 8-3
No. 3 Gravino/Sechuad (Illinois State) def. Simmons/Richey (Wichita State) 8-1
(Third-place match) Bingier/Simovic (Illinois State) def. Puske/Esbeck (Northern Iowa) 8-3
