April 25, 2010
Final Stats
WICHITA, Kan. -
The Illinois State women's tennis team had its season come to an end with a 4-1 loss to Valley regular season champions, Wichita State, in Sunday's championship round of the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex in Wichita, Kan. Hannah Esker claimed the sole point for Illinois State after winning at the No. 6 singles position.
Esker swept Lily Wakim, 6-0, 6-0, on the No. 6 singles court, to finish the season on a fourteen-match winning streak. Esker concludes her season with a 25-6 overall record and is 20-3 in dual play with a perfect 10-0 conference record.
The No. 1, 2, and 4 singles positions battled for Redbird victories but were unable to come out on top. Aniko Kiss fell to, the Valley Player of the Year, Lutfiana Budiharto, at the No. 1 position, 6-0, 6-2. On the No. 2 court was Franziska Steinhardt, who lost to Stephanie Delmacio, 6-1, 6-3, while Natalia Lech fell to Delia Damaschin, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 4 position.
In doubles competition, Esker and Carmen Peters were the only doubles pair to claim a victory with a defeat over Wakim and Damaschin, 8-4, at the No. 3 position.
Despite the loss, head coach Chris Hoover is proud of the team's performance against Wichita State.
"It was tough today," Hoover said. "We knew we were going to have to play our best and we came up short. The doubles point was important and we dropped it and then couldn't come back in the singles. The student-athletes played well today though and I'm happy with how far the team has come this season. We had a great year and just came up a little short (Sunday). I think we made some advances for the program and I look forward to next year."
Illinois State concludes its 2009-10 season with an 18-6 overall record and an 8-2 Valley mark.
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