WATERLOO, Iowa – The Illinois State women's tennis team advanced in both singles and doubles during day one of the University of Northern Iowa Invitational, Friday at Byrnes Park.
In singles play, junior Kadi Ilves and freshmen Donna Haycock and Valerija Gercar all went undefeated, advancing in their respective brackets. Haycock defeated Upper Iowa's Saki Kawabata, 3-6, 6-0, 1-0, (10-5), and Ilves topped St. Catherine's Maria Koval, 6-0, 6-2. Ilves and Haycock both advanced in the Gold singles bracket.
Gercar defeated St. Catherine's Angie Lorenzen, 6-1, 6-1, advancing in the Purple singles bracket. Freshman Cricket Geldermann received a bye, automatically advancing her to the next round in the Purple bracket.
In Panther singles play, Chanel Scudiero received a bye, automatically advancing to the next round, while sophomore Natalia Parchowska fell to South Dakota's Yamini Reddy, 6-0, 7-5.
"We had a solid performance today," head coach Maja Kovacek said. "In doubles play, we came up a bit short in a couple of matches, but there was noticeable improvement from the last tournament."
In doubles, Haycock and Gercar defeated Western Illinois' Ariana Demos and Nicole Jones, enabling the duo to advance in the Purple bracket. Haycock and Gercar advanced against St. Catherine's Mikinzee Salo and Maria Koval, 8-1. The doubles team will compete against Bradley's Irinka Toidze and Ariel Dechter for the championship.
In the Gold Doubles bracket, Ilves and Scudiero received a bye in the first round, automatically advancing the duo to the next round. Ilves and Scudiero fell to South Dakota's Dragana Brankovic and Rymma Maslova, 8-5. The doubles team will compete against Northern Iowa's Elvira Lopez and Astrid Santos for the third place championship.
In Panther Doubles play, Parchowska and Geldermann fell to Bradley's Cassia Wojtalik and South Dakota's Yamini Reddy. Parchowska and Geldermann defeated Upper Iowa's Morgan Winnie and Julia Prokopyshyn, 8-3. The duo will compete against Upper Iowa's Breanna Heichert and Laura Alvarez in the consolation round.
The UNI Invitational will continue Saturday with only two single matches at Byrnes Park in Waterloo, beginning at 9 a.m.
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