The Illinois State womens tennis team took the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 singles flight matches, as well as the No. 1 doubles match, but it wasnt enough to beat Kansas Saturday at the Wood Valley Racquet Club in Topeka, Kan., as the Birds fell 4-3. Sophomore Katri Miller led the way for Illinois State, winning the No. 1 singles match, and pairing with freshman Vronique Park-Bedard to win the No. 1 doubles match.
Miller defeated Christine Skoda 6-4, 6-4 for the No. 1 singles flight win, while Elizabeth Bingier won a three-set battle against KUs Lauren Hommel 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to take the No. 2 singles match. In the No. 3 singles spot Illinois States Laura Gravino bested Brittany Brown 6-4, 6-2. Head coach Chris Hoover was surprised his team didnt come away with the victory after such outstanding play in the top of the Birds line-up.
If you would have told me before we came here we were going to take the three top singles matches, and the top doubles match, and then not win I wouldnt have believed you, said Hoover. We did battle though, and thats obvious because all of the singles matches we lost went to three sets, so that is a positive we can take away from this and learn from for the future.
Emilie Sechaud dropped the No. 4 singles match to KUs Stephanie Smith 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, while Carolyne Parent fell to Luiza Loureiro in the No. 5 spot 6-4. 6-7 (3-7). 6-1. Ashley Maxwell rounded out the Redbird six losing a tough match to Ashley Filberth 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
In doubles action Miller and Park-Bedard teamed to defeat KUs duo of Filberth and Brown, 8-6 in the No. 1 spot. In the No. 2 doubles flight Illinois States Maxwell and Gravino fell to Skoda and Loureiro 8-2, while the Kansas duo of Hommell and Smith defeated Sechaud and Parent 8-6 in the No. 3 spot. Although he was disappointed with such a heartbreaking loss, Hoover was quick to point out some unexpected positives the Redbirds can build on.
I was extremely pleased with our one, two and three singles matches, said Hoover. For Katri to come out and be as dominant as she was in the number one spot is a great start, and I was really pleased to see Liz (Bingier) battle for the win in the number two spot. For that matter everyone battled today, the effort was there, just not quite the result we had hoped for.
The Birds return to the court for their home opener Friday against DePaul. Tennis action is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at the Evergreen Racquet Club.
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