Feb. 24, 2007
Final Stats
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -
Western Michigan, the nation's 72nd-ranked squad, proved to be too much for the Illinois State women's tennis team on Saturday, as the Broncos defeated the Redbirds, 6-1, at the West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo, Mich. The loss drops the Redbirds' record to 3-2 on the season, while the Broncos improve to 9-4.
"Today was a tough loss against a very good team," head coach Chris Hoover said. "I'm proud of the fight our women showed in their matches, but we need to refocus our energy and get back to playing at the level we are capable of."
The match started off promising for the Redbirds as the No. 1 doubles team of senior Katri Miller a junior Véronique Parke-Bédard upended WMU's Milica Zivanovic and Noriko Saruta, 8-6. The Broncos would rally to take the next two at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively, to claim the early 1-0 lead. Kerstin Pahl and Priyanka Parekh defeated ISU's team of sophomore Tanja Hrovatic and freshman Julia Zubkova, 8-1, while Emily Dudzik and Carrie Jeanmaire bested the Redbird team of junior Carolyne Parent and Matea Simovic, 8-3.
In singles action, Parke-Bédard recorded the lone Redbird victory at the No. 3 position. The native of Pont-Rouge, Québec, notched her fourth victory of the dual-match season by outlasting Parekh in three sets, 4-6, 7-6, 10-7.
Western Michigan showed why they are the two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion by winning in straight sets at the No. 2, 4, 5 and 6 spots.
ISU fought hard for the victory at the top spot in the lineup, but it wasn't enough. Miller dropped the first set, 6-3, to Jeanmaire before rallying to take the second, 6-4. In the third set, the two played a super tiebreaker where Jeanmaire hung on to win, 10-6.
The Redbirds will conclude their three-match road trip on Fri., Mar. 2, when they head west to face Saint Louis. The match between ISU and SLU is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. at the Billikens' Sunset Tennis Center.
