April 10, 2010
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
Sophomore Hannah Esker sealed the win for the Illinois State women's tennis team with a win at the No. 6 singles position against Creighton on Saturday at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Ill. The Redbirds defeated the Bluejays, 5-2, and improve to a 14-4 record on the year and go undefeated in Valley play, 4-0.
"We're 14-4 which feels good," said head coach Chris Hoover. "We didn't play our best with a 5-2 win. We should've beat (Creighton) 7-0 but we'll take the win."
In doubles play, Natalia Lech and Ariane Maack bested Leesa Cadwallader and Sarah Calldwallader at the No. 2 court, 8-2. At the No. 1 position was Redbird pair Julia Zubkova and Franziska Steinhardt who were down early, 5-2, but came back to steal the doubles point with an 8-6 win over Anna Kirschenbaum and Kelsey Schmidt.
Esker won her thirteenth dual singles victory of the season with a win over Mary Pat McMullan, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 6 position. Esker continues on a nine-match winning streak and sports a 13-3 record on the year.
Success carried over to the No. 3 and No. 4 singles courts where seniors Zubkova and Lech both took victories in their respective positions. Zubkova defeated Lauren Mastro 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 3 position to extend her winning streak to eight. Lech bested Schmidt, 6-1, 6-0, at the No. 4 position extending her winning streak to four.
Maack closed the courts with a 6-3, 6-4, victory over Lindsey Erickson at the No. 5 position.
"Wichita is going to be a tough match for us," said Hoover. "But I think we're mentally prepared and we're excited to be 4-0 in conference play."
The women's tennis team will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday when they host their last match of the spring season against conference rival Wichita State. The first serve is set for 10 a.m., at the Gregory Street Tennis Court. Live stats for the match can be found at the link below.
LIVESTATS
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