March 2, 2007
Final Stats
ST. LOUIS -
The Illinois State women's tennis team snapped its two-match losing skid by soundly beating Saint Louis, 7-0, on Friday at the Billikens' Sunset Tennis Center. The `Birds claimed victory in all six singles contests and improved their record to 4-2 on the season.
"We are happy to get back on the winning track," head coach Chris Hoover said. "All of our women were capable of winning their matches today and they came out and performed very well."
In singles action, Illinois State was dominant winning four matches in straight sets. Senior Katri Miller led the way at the No. 1 spot in the lineup by dispatching SLU's Katerina Lozanova, 6-2, 6-4. At the No. 2 position, junior Véronique Parke-Bédard downed Ana Renda, 6-1, 6-3, while freshman Julia Zubkova defeated Tara Grant, 6-3, 7-5, at the No 3 spot. Senior Matea Simovic rounded out the straight set victories for the Redbirds when she beat Caitlin Bokulic, 6-3, 6-1, at the sixth position.
The Redbirds other two singles wins came at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively. Junior Carolyne Parent dropped her first set 7-6, 7-4 in the tiebreaker, to the Billikens' Rachel McCullagh before rallying to take the next two sets, 6-0, 6-2, for her team-leading 12th win of the season.
Sophomore Tanja Hrovatic also dropped her first set, 6-2, to Jo Becker before rebounding to win the next two sets, 6-1, 6-3, for her third victory since joining the team in January.
Illinois State took the early 1-0 advantage by winning the doubles point for the fourth time this season. The duo of Miller and Parke-Bédard improved to 5-1 in dual-match play at the top spot in the lineup by upending Lozanova and Grant, 8-5. Simovic and freshman Jeanelle Stines would lose at the No. 2 position, 8-5, to Becker and Renda, but ISU claimed the point when SLU defaulted the final doubles match.
The Redbirds return home on Sunday to face in-state rival DePaul at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill. First serve between the `Birds and the Blue Demons is scheduled for 1 p.m.
