Liina Suurvarik and Katri Miller both won in singles and doubles on Sunday, helping the Illinois State womens tennis team defeat St. Louis, 6-1. The duo of Suurvarik and Miller have now won five straight doubles matches at the No. 1 position.
In doubles play, the Redbirds secured the doubles point by victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. In the No. 1 position, Suurvarik and Miller defeated St. Louiss Katerina Lozanova and Amanda Hellberg, 8-4. No. 3 duo Laura Gravino and Emilie Sechaud clinched the other doubles victory by defeating Lindsay Winninger and Rebecca Steer, 8-3.
Leading the Birds in singles play was No. 1 Suurvarik. Suurvarik, who picked up her fifth straight singles victory, defeated Lozanova, 6-4, 6-2. Miller, playing in the No. 2 position, picked up her third straight singles victory, defeating Hellberg, 6-2, 6-4. The other singles wins came at the No. 4, 5, and 6 positions. No. 3 Elizabeth Bingier, who won the first set, struggled in the second and could not hold off Ana Renda during the tie-breaker, 6-4, 6-3, (10-5).
Head coach Chris Hoover saw several players improve during todays match.
I think that Ashley (Maxwell) did a great job for us today in the No. 6 position, Hoover said. Laura (Gravino) also had another good match today and we will see her move up in the line up.. I thought that Katri (Miller) did not play as well as usual but she stayed focused. I was impressed that she maintained self control and found a way to win. I admire that in a player.
Hoover is not pleased with the performances in doubles and is going to continue switching the line-ups.
The doubles matches are really rough for us, Hoover said. That is where we are the weakest and I am going to continue to try new combinations. I am going to keep mixing it up until we find something that works.
ISU is now 4-3 overall and will swing back into action on Sunday, March 14 against University of Illinois-Chicago. The match will be held at Evergreen Racquet Club and begins at 1:00 p.m.
Illinois State 6, St. Louis 1
Doubles
No. 1 - Liina Suurvarik/Katri Miller (ISU) over Katerina Lozanova/ Amanda Hellberg (SLU) 8-4
No. 2 - Ana Renda/ Melissa Cutler (SLU)over Elizabeth Bingier/Ashley Maxwell (ISU) 8-3
No. 3 - Laura Gravino/Emilie Sechaud (ISU) over Lindsay Winninger/ Rebecca Steer (SLU) 8-3
Singles
No. 1 - Liina Suurvarik (ISU) over Katerina Lozanova (SLU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 - Katri Miller (ISU) over Amanda Hellberg (SLU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 - Ana Renda (SLU) over Elizabeth Bingier (ISU) 6-4, 6-3, (10-5)
No. 4 - Laura Gravino (ISU) over Melissa Cutler (SLU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 - Emilie Sechaud (ISU) over Lindsay Winninger (SLU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 - Ashley Maxwell (ISU) over Rebecca Steer (SLU) 6-1, 6-1
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