March 12, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
Final Results 
Junior Hannah Esker was the only Redbird able to come away with a win Saturday as the Illinois State women's tennis team was defeated by Memphis, 6-1, to end the weekend on the road.
Starting off the day, the Redbirds were unable to claim the doubles point after losing all three matches. Aniko Kiss and Phyllis Tigges were defeated by Courtney Collins and Kelly Gray in a tie break, 8-7 (7-3), at the No. 1 position. At the No. 2 spot, Carolina Abello and Ariane Maack lost to Mariya Slupska, 8-6, while Esker and Heather Nisbett fell to Stefanie Mikesz and Adrea Arquis-Garcia at the No. 3 position, 8-5.
Head coach Chris Hoover was happy with the team's double performance despite the loss.
"Our doubles played really well," said Hoover. "Starting out letting the doubles point get away is always a letdown but we came out strong and put up a tough fight, it was just unfortunate that we couldn't finish the way we wanted."
In singles, Esker gained the only Illinois State point for the day after defeating Arqui-Garcia at the No. 6 spot, 6-3, 7-5. Kiss was defeated by Collins at the No. 1 position, 6-2, 6-1, with Tigges losing to Slupska, 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 2 position. Abello was dropped by Mikesz at the No. 3 spot, 6-2, 6-0, while Maack lost to Gray, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, at the No. 4 position. Finally rounding out play for the day, Gabby Phillips was defeated by Kathleen Hawkins at the No. 5 spot, 6-1, 6-0.
Overall Hoover was disappointed with Saturday's results.
"We knew this match was going to be tough," said Hoover. "It was disappointing because we came out fighting and showed some good effort. There were a few matches that were good that we should have won but in the end we just couldn't finish. I'm not very happy with our performance but our doubles teams played well and hopefully we can work on our game for our next match.
The `Birds will continue their spring season Thursday, March 17, as they host Illinois-Chicago at the Bloomington Racquet Club at 1:00 p.m.
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