The Illinois State womens tennis team defeated Bradley 7-0 in its conference opener Wednesday at the Evergreen Racquet Club. The victory marks the 25th straight conference win for the Redbirds, a streak dating back to 2002.
Illinois State won every point in the match starting with No. 1 singles player Elizabeth Bingier, who defeated Elise Montrose in a close 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory, while Laura Gravino claimed a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the No. 2 singles flight over Bradleys Ashley Morris. At the No. 3 spot Veronique Parke-Bedard recorded a 6-0, 6-2 win over Kelley Wood, and Emilie Sechaud defeated Teri Chan 6-2, 6-4 for the No. 4 singles flight victory.
Ashley Maxwell, playing in the No. 5 spot, downed Kathleen Bowen 6-0, 6-3, while Matea Simovic rounded out the Redbird netters with a 6-0, 6-0 shut-out victory over Jessica Sampias in the No. 6 flight. In doubles action Bingier and Gravino paired to defeat the Bradley duo of Montrose and Morris 8-3 at the No. 1 doubles spot, while Maxwell and Parke-Bedard recorded an 8-2 win over Chan and Wood in the No. 2 doubles flight.
In the No. 3 doubles spot Sechaud and Simovic downed Marissa Bianchi and Sampias 8-1. Head coach Chris Hoover felt fortunate to take every match, and happy to see the team start the conference season with a win.
Im glad we got a conference win under our belt, said Hoover. It was a good win, Bradley has improved a lot over the years since Ive been coaching here, theyve come a long way. Their top two players, especially, are very good and I feel fortunate to come away with a 7-0 win.
The Birds look to continue their conference win streak Saturday, April 2nd in a 2 p.m. match with Indiana State at McCormick Courts.
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