The Illinois State womens team came out of the gate strong against New Orleans, but once the rainy weather forced the teams inside the Privateers turned the tide and handed the Redbirds a 5-0 non-conference loss Tuesday afternoon.
With the defeat, the Birds fell to 4-6 overall on the season, while UNO improved to 9-2 en route to its sixth straight win.
Head coach Chris Hoover was surprised with how the Redbirds played once the match was forced indoors, since ISUs previous nine matches all took place at indoor facilities.
We started outside and played pretty well, Hoover said. Once the weather hit, we moved inside, where I thought we would have an advantage, but they totally turned it around on us. When we came inside I told the team that this should play into our hands, but that obviously wasnt the case.
Freshman Vronique Parke-Bdard best exemplified ISUs about-face after she won the first set against UNOs Tanja Hrovatic 6-1, on the outside courts at City Park, but dropped the next two sets 6-1, 10-6 indoors. Another Redbird freshman, Carolyne Parent, pushed her match three sets at No. 5 singles, but fell to Angela Maria Dangond 6-0, 3-6, 10-6.
Elizabeth Bingier, Laura Gravino and Matea Simovic all dropped two-set matches for the Redbirds, while Emilie Sechuad was defeating Michaela Fogelberg before the match was stopped due to time restraints.
Illinois State returns to action on Wednesday morning, when the Birds face Oral Roberts at New Orleans with the match starting at 10 a.m.
