March 17, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
Final Results 
Junior Aniko Kiss and Ariane Maack were the only two Redbirds able to come away with a win Thursday as the Illinois State women's tennis team was defeated by UIC, 5-2, at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill.
Kiss defeated Teona Tsertsvadze in straight sets at the No. 2 position, 6-4, 6-0, while Maack beat Elisa Simonetti in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 10-5, at the No. 4 spot.
The `Birds started the day with an early struggle; unable to capture the doubles point after losing all three doubles matches. Kiss paired with Phyllis Tigges at the No. 1 spot and was defeated by Tsertsvadze and Simonetti, 8-7. At the No. 2 position, Maack and Carolina Abello took on Mariya Kovaleva and Linda Hricistova but lost, 8-6, while Hannah Esker and Heather Nisbett fell to Ilinca Cristescu and Jana Knoppe, 8-6.
Head coach Chris Hoover thought ISU's doubles played well, despite the loss.
"Our doubles teams have really stepped it up," said Hoover. "We're playing some great doubles and it was really close, we just weren't able to finish."
Aside from Kiss and Maack's victories, ISU had trouble finding success in singles action. Tigges was defeated by Kovaleva at the No. 1 position, 6-1, 6-0, while Abello fell to Cristescu, 6-0, 6-1, at the No. 3 spot. Rounding out play, Knoppe dropped Esker, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 5 spot, with Gabby Phillips losing to Hricistova at the No. 6 position, 6-2, 6-0.
Hoover was disappointed with the outcome of Thursday's match but believes the team is improving.
"(Thursday) was a little better," said Hoover. "Aniko came out to win today and was successful and Ariane played really well. Every match we play we are starting to bring things together; hopefully we'll get there and be able to start winning a few more matches.
The Redbirds are now 4-6 on the season and will continue their spring schedule as they hit the road to take on in-state rival, Bradley, March 25, in Peoria, Ill., at 5:00 p.m. CDT.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, TRC gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
