Sept. 29, 2006
OMAHA, Neb. -
Opening the first day of the Missouri Valley Conference Individuals at Creighton, the Illinois State women's tennis team encountered some tough competition, but freshmen Jeanelle Stines and Julia Zubkova took home wins and will advance in the main draw of the tournament.
In singles, senior Katri Miller defeated her opponent, Katie Chiu of Creighton in the preliminary match, but was later defeated in the quarterfinals by Wichita State's Stephanie Dalmacio with a final score of 6-4, 6-3. Both juniors, Véronique Parke-Bédard and Carolyne Parent battled their way into a third set with against of their opponents, but both came up just short of victory. Also in singles, senior Matea Simovic was injured and forced to forfeit her last match. She will not play in the drawback singles tomorrow, however she will compete in the finals match of doubles.
Despite the close losses of their returning members, the Redbirds did have success among their newcomers. Arizona native, Jeanelle Stines had an outstanding performance against her opponent Stephanie Millis of Evansville with a win of 6-1, 6-0. Teammate Julia Zubkova, also a freshman, defeated Nicole Thurston of Creighton 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles play, the `Birds were successful and will send two of their duos to the finals round tomorrow. Stines and Parke-Bédard won their match against Evavsville 9-7, while Carolyne Parent and Matea Simovic crushed their opponents from Bradley, with a score of 8-2. The pair of Miller and Zubkova unfortunately came up short of a win, but will play in the backdraw semifinals tomorrow.
Overall Hoover was very impressed with his freshmen.
"They (Stines and Zubkova) played very well today and I am very pleased with them," said Hoover. "We look forward to their matches as well as the doubles matches tomorrow."
Play will continue tomorrow at the Koch Family Outdoor Tennis Center. First match is set to start at 9 a.m. and conclude around 4 p.m. with results to follow.
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Results
Singles Round- Preliminary match
Flight 1-Miller(ISU) def. Katie Chiu (CU), 7-6(4)
Singles- Quarterfinal matches
Flight 1B - Stephanie Dalmacio WSU d. Katri Miller ILS, 6-4, 6-3
Flight 5C - Jeanelle Stines ILS d. Stephanie Millis UE, 6-1, 6-0
Flight 6C - Sarah Plowman DU d. Matea Simovic ILS, 6-2, inj. Def
Flight 2E - Julia Zubkova ILS d. Nicole Thurston CU, 6-1, 6-1
Flight 3E - Fadzai Masiyazi INS d. Veronique Parke-Bedard ILS, 2-6,
6-4, 6-1
Flight 4E - Kari Sloboth DU d. Carolyne Parent ILS, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
Doubles Round- Quarterfinal matches
Flight 1B - Delmacio/Egorova WSU d. Miller/Zubkova ILS 8-1
Flight 2E - Parke-Bedard/Stines ILS d. Kawamoto/Millis UE 9-7
Flight 3D - Parent/Simovic ILS d. Krubeck/Regenold BU 8-2
