Senior Liina Suurvarik and the rest of the Illinois State womens tennis team have won a slew of awards but will have their eyes set on the biggest prize this weekend as they enter the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, Friday at Wichita, Kan.
The Redbirds enter the event as the regular season champions. With a tournament victory, ISU would claim back-to-back Valley titles. TheBirds are the No. 1 seed, but Hoover doesnt see the position as an advantage.
Being the number one seed is just like preseason polls, they dont mean anything, said Hoover. Whoever wins the tournament has to win three matches. Hopefully our work over the season will pay off and we can put together three pretty good matches,
ISU will rely on Suurvariks leadership and experience during the tournament. In singles, Suurvarik has a perfect 9-0 record in the MVC and 29-6 overall. At No. 1 doubles, she teams with Katri Miller to post a record of 9-0 in the Valley and 30-4 overall.
The Birds will face the winner of the Evansville/Northern Iowa match on Friday, at 1:30 pm. Evansville and Northern Iowa were both blanked by ISU earlier this season, 7-0.
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