INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Illinois State went to Butler determined to win and downed the Bulldogs, 6-1. No. 1 player
Katri Miller made a comeback in this competition as she won her first matches in singles and doubles with partner
Michelle Rabinovich. Other successes included the competitive play of
Carolyne Parent,
Nicole Schneider and
Véronique Parke-Bédard who aided the team in the domination of singles and doubles matches.
Head coach Chris Hoover is proud of the strong play he has seen from the team.
"I am happy we won," said Hoover. "I wanted to leave winning 7-0, but I was happy with the consistent play we had in our matches. I thought people like Carolyne and Nicole continued to play strong and didn't give anything away in their matches."
Miller won No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-3 against Butler's Alaina Griffin. It was a close one for Emilie Sechaud who barely lost in a three set match against reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Tayo Bailey, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Parke-Bédard won in No. 3 singles against Michelle Hawes 6-2, 6-2; and Parent added another win to her record against Kaitlin Elliot (6-2, 6-0). Bulldog Ashley Harrison proved to be no match for Schneider who won 6-0, 6-0, and Matea Simovic made her first appearance at the No. 6 position a memorable one winning 6-0, 6-4 against Chelsey Casperson.
Hoover has been impressed with how the Redbirds have been performing in No. 3, 4 and 5 singles.
"We are playing pretty strong in No. 3, 4 and 5 singles," said Hoover. "I am really confident with those positions right now, we just need to work on the No. 6 position now."
In previous matches, the Redbirds have been having trouble with No. 1 doubles, but today proved to be different as Miller and Rabinovich recorded their first victory against Griffin and Bailey, 8-6. Hoover was pleased with both Rabinovich and Miller's performance.
"One doubles was a highlight for me," said Hoover. "We are starting to believe that we can win and I think the doubles' points we earn are going to be very important for us this year to win matches."
Parke- Bédard and Ashley Maxwell were victorious in No. 2 doubles against Elliot and Hawes (8-5). No. 3 pair Parent and Schneider played well winning with a strong score of 8-3 against Casperson and Shaden Dowiatt.
According to Hoover, the Butler victory makes the team happy; however, The `Birds are only a couple weeks into the season. The Redbirds know they need to work hard in order to walk away with the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the end of the year.
"I believe the ability to be strong and competitive will get us what we want, and that is to be MVC regular season and tournament champions," said Hoover. "There are times where we will struggle in matches but we need to continue to play hard in those matches in order to win."
The `Birds will remain in Indianapolis for their next match against IUPUI on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 5 p. m.
