Feb. 9, 2007
Final Stats
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -
The Illinois State women's tennis team was dominate Friday night defeating non-conference foe Butler, 6-1, at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill. The Redbirds won eight of nine positions to improve to 2-0 on the season.
"We had a much better effort tonight," head coach Chris Hoover said. "We are a team that can continue to get better. We need to be focused and get more matches under our belts."
The loss drops Butler's record to 1-5, 1-0 in the Horizon League.
The Redbirds set the tone early by sweeping all three doubles matches to put ISU up 1-0. At the No. 3 position, the team of junior Carolyne Parent and senior Matea Simovic defeated Butler's Chelsey Casperson and Carrie Rachon, 8-2. The No. 1 duo of senior Katri Miller and junior Véronique Parke-Bédard clinched the point in equally impressive fashion beating the Bulldogs' tandem of Tiffany McLoughlin and Michelle Hawes, 8-1.
Winning the final doubles match at the No. 2 spot was sophomore Tanja Hrovatic and freshman Julia Zubkova, who turned backed BU's team of Molly Casperson and Becky Jenkins, 8-5.
With momentum on ISU's side, the Redbirds quickly increased their lead to 2-0 when Simovic, playing at the No. 6 position, blanked Ashley Harrison, 6-0, 6-0. At the No. 3 position, Parke-Bédard followed suit by making short work of Hawes, 6-0, 6-2, to put the `Birds on the verge of clinching the match.
Miller, playing at the No. 2 spot, sealed the victory for ISU by sweeping McLoughlin in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
Rounding out the evening with victories for the Redbirds were Parent and Hrovatic. Parent, playing at the No. 4 position fell behind early to Jenkins dropping the first set 6-3, before rallying to win the second set, 6-1. In the match's final set Parent outlasted Jenkins, 10-8.
Hrovatic, a transfer from New Orleans, captured her second victory as a Redbird beating Chelsey Casperson, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6).
"Our upperclassmen had some tremendous matches," Hoover said. "We are going to need them to play at a high level to reach our goals this season."
The Redbirds will return to action on Fri., Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. when they take on IUPUI at the ERC.
