Sept. 28, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After participating in three tournaments thus far in the fall season, the Illinois State women's tennis team will travel to Omaha, Neb. this weekend to try their luck at this year's Missouri Valley Conference Individuals, hosted by Creighton.
The Redbirds have been looking forward to the tournament during the fall season to see what competition the conference will deliver this year. There will be seven single tournaments and three double tournaments with all the universities in the Valley competing, including Bradley, Indiana State, Creighton, Northern Iowa, Drake, Missouri State, Wichita State, Evansville, and Southern Illinois.
Head coach Chris Hoover looks forward to checking out the competition this year and has high hopes in taking home crowns.
"Our goal every year is for everyone to take home an individual title," said Hoover. "We've have six student-athletes participating and they all have a very good chance at a win."
The six Redbirds competing have three days, Friday through Sunday, to win a title in their given flight. Senior Katri Miller is set to play at the No. 1 spot against Creighton's Katie Chiu. Freshman Julia Zubkova will compete against Nicole Thurston of Creighton at the No. 2 position, while junior Véronique Parke-Bédard will face Fadzai Masiyazi of Indiana State at the No. 3 position. Playing in the fourth spot will be junior Carolyne Parent, in the fifth spot newcomer Jeanelle Stines, and senior Matea Simovic will take the last spot in singles at the No. 6 position.
In doubles play the Redbird Estonian duo of Miller and Zubkova will come together to compete at the No. 1 spot against the winner of Drake and Witchita State's No. 1 match. Pairing up at the No. 2 doubles will be Parke-Bédard and Stines. They will compete against Evansville's Stephanie Mills and Lisa Kawamoto. Finishing out the doubles at the No. 3 spot will be Simovic and Parent against Erin Krubeck and Emily Regenold of Bradley.
This Indivicuals are the first time the `Birds will face most of the teams in their conference before the regular season starts. Coach Hoover hopes that the first encounter of the season will be one in which the `Birds will leave an impression.
"Every year we go into this tournament wanting to send the same message," said Hoover. "That message is that Illinois State will again be the No. 1 team to beat this season.
The teams will play at the Koch Family Outdoor Tennis Center with the first match set to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the last match being completed at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
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