April 12, 2009
Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
Three Redbirds, Hannah Esker, Tanja Hrovatic and Carmen Peters, won their third-straight singles match as the Illinois State women's tennis team defeated Drake, 6-1, Sunday at Gregory Street Tennis Courts. The win marked Illinois State's third-straight Missouri Valley Conference victory.
Esker defeated Kari Sloboth (DU), 6-4, 6-4, in Flight 5 singles, while Hrovatic bested Jessica Labarte (DU), 7-5, 6-2, in Flight 3 singles. In Flight 6 singles, Peters defeated Amanda Aragon (DU), 7-5, 7-5.
"It was a great win for us today," said head coach Chris Hoover. "The team had to fight tough competitors and tough weather conditions. It was windy and cold, but we ended up with a win."
The Redbirds began the day with doubles play, where they swept the Bulldogs, clinching the doubles point. In Flight 1, the Redbird duo of Julia Zubkova and Franziska Steinhardt bested Drake's Veronika Leszayova and Morgan Rainey, 8-3. The Redbird pairing of Natalia Lech and Hrovatic dominated play in Flight 2, defeated Jessica Aguilera and Labarte (DU), 8-1. Esker and Peters completed the Redbird sweep after besting Gabriela Demos and Sloboth (DU), 8-3, for their third-straight doubles victory.
Along with Esker's, Peters's and Hrovatic's singles wins, Zubkova and Steinhardt added to the Redbirds' victory. Zubkova bested Leszayova (DU), 6-4, 6-4, in Flight 1, while Steinhardt defeated Aguilera (DU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in Flight 4.
The Redbirds only loss came in the Flight 2 singles match, where Lech fell to Demos (DU), 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
The Redbirds return to conference play Saturday (April 18) when they travel to Carbondale, Ill., to play Southern Illinois at 1 p.m.
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