April 19, 2008
Results
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -
Senior Carolyne Parent and sophomore Julia Zubkova's tie-breaking wins helped the Illinois State women's tennis team take down Evansville, 5-1, Saturday, April 19 in Bloomington, Ill., at the Evergreen Racquet Club. The win earned the Redbirds a 5-2 Missouri Valley Conference mark and placed them at 11-9 on the season.
Zubkova topped the Ace's Kate Chybowski, 6-4, 6-7(8), 10-4, at the No. 2 spot, while Parent bested Pin Sorenson, 7-6(4), 6-2 in flight No. 4.
Head coach Chris Hoover was impressed by his players as well as Evansville's.
"Sorenson and Chybowski were two new opponents for us and they are the future of Evansville," said Hoover. "Julia had a couple of chances to put the match away but Sorenson kept coming back. Carolyne has struggled all year and when she gets behind early sometimes the weight of the season gets to her. Today was really a great victory for Carolyne and I am really proud that she stuck with it to earn the win."
In the rest of singles action, the Redbirds earned three more points. Senior Katri Miller defeated Lisa Kawamoto, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 1 spot. Senior Véronique Parke-Bédard competed in flight No. 3 and bested Sara Wilhoite, 6-2, 6-4. Sophomore Tanja Hrovatic took the win is straight sets against Allison Cox, 6-0, 6-0.
The `Birds lost their only point in the No. 6 spot as sophomore Carmen Peters fell to Stephanie Millis, 6-2, 6-3.
Due to time constraints the doubles competition was not held.
Although Hoover is excited about the win, he has not underestimated his next opponent's potential.
"It was a great win but we need to play a lot sharper on Sunday against Southern Illinois," said Hoover. "Southern Illinois is a difficult team and they are going to give us a hard time."
The Redbirds are set to host their last regular season match against Southern Illinois on Sunday, April 20 on The Gregory Street Tennis Courts, with the first serve set for 11 a.m.
