The Illinois State womens tennis team moved its record to 10-7 (3-1) with its 6-1 conference victory over Creighton Saturday at the McCormick Courts. Laura Gravinos conference singles win streak reached 40 with her victory at the No. 1 position.
Gravino, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Womens Tennis Player of the Week, defeated Katie Chiu in a 6-4, 6-4 decision. Head coach Chris Hoover was pleased with Gravinos play, and proud to see her continue her winning ways.
Laura is awesome, said Hoover. Shes moving up in our all-time career conference wins list, and shes continuing her streak from the No. 1 position now. To keep winning from the No. 1 spot is even tougher, and I couldnt be more proud of her. Laura is everything you want as a coach.
Illinois State took every singles point except for one as Elizabeth Bingier recorded a 6-1, 6-4 win in the No. 2 spot over Deidre Senders. Veronique Parke-Bedard defeated Kim Cavan 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 3 position, while Carolyne Parent recorded a 6-3, 7-5 win over Nicole Thurston at the No. 4 spot. Matea Simovic rounded out the Redbird winners with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Elizabeth Hurley at the No. 6 position.
The Birds lone singles loss came in an intercity showdown match between Normal Community West graduate Ashley Maxwell and Jennifer Burge, a Bloomington native, and the No 5 singles player for Creighton. Burge defeated Maxwell 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 5 position to record Creightons singles point. Hoover was pleased to see the Redbirds pull out the win, and hopeful the team can continue to be successful in conference play.
Every team comes after us pretty hard, said Hoover. We have to work and fight to be successful in this conference and Im glad to see were coming through. Well take any wins we can get at this point, and Im hoping we dont lose the fight weve got in us right now.
The Birds will compete in their last home match of the season April 10 when Valley foe Drake visits the McCormick Courts. Action is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
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