The Illinois State womens tennis team recorded its fifth straight win in its match with conference rival Southwest Missouri State Sunday afternoon at the SMS Tennis Courts. The 5-2 victory improves the Birds record to 13-7 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
Laura Gravino recorded a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 1 singles position over Elizabeth Garza, while Emilie Sechaud defeated Biljana Gakovic with a dominating 6-1, 6-1 decision at the No. 4 spot. Carolyne Parent downed Carolina Ardila 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 5 position, and Ashley Maxwell finished out the day at the No. 6 singles flight with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Stephanie Harmazy.
In doubles action the Redbird duo of Maxwell and Veronique Parke-Bedard combined to defeat Gakovic and Manzur 8-3 in the No. 2 flight, while Sechaud paired with Matea Simovic at the No. 3 spot to claim an 8-2 victory over Ardila and Harmazy. Head coach Chris Hoover was pleased with the Redbird win, and hopeful the team can continue to dominate.
Im glad we won today, said Hoover. Were really starting to put it all together and thats exciting. We played well today and Im confident and hopeful we can continue winning these conference matches and finish out at the top of the Valley standings.
The Redbirds only have two more conference matches remaining until the Valley tournament. The team travels to Evansville April 23, before heading over to Carbondale to visit the Salukis of Southern Illinois on April 24. The SIU match will mark the end of the regular season for the Birds with tournament action beginning April 29.
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