Feb. 26, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
After three-straight weekends on the road, the Illinois State women's tennis team will return home to face Eastern Illinois 7 p.m. Friday at Bloomington's Evergreen Racquet Club.
The Redbirds are 4-3 overall this season, after going 2-1 last weekend (Feb. 20-22) in Las Vegas.
In its first outdoor match of the season, Illinois State was swept, 7-0, by then-No. 49 UNLV. However, the Redbirds regrouped and defeated UC Riverside, 4-3, Saturday and Utah State, 6-1, Sunday.
Illinois State's three doubles teams are all 3-3 in dual play this season, while senior Tanja Hrovatic and junior Julia Zubkova lead the team in singles with records of 5-2 in dual play.
Eastern Illinois is 3-5 overall this season after losing to Northern Iowa Sunday (Feb. 22), 4-3. The Panther pairing of Cara Huck and Juliana Frey are undefeated in Flight 2 doubles dual play, going 4-0 so far this season.
"We are excited to be playing back at home," said head coach Chris Hoover. "We had a great weekend in Las Vegas, and we pulled out some incredible wins. However, we have to stay focused and keep that momentum going into Friday's match."
Illinois State leads the all-time series between the Panthers and the Redbirds, 25-1. The last time Eastern Illinois defeated Illinois State was in 1986. Eastern Illinois won, 6-3.
The last time the two teams met was Feb. 29, 2008, at Bloomington's Evergreen Racquet Club. The Redbirds bested the Panthers, 5-2, ending the Panthers' hopes for an undefeated season.
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