NORMAL, Ill. – With Illinois State's fall season slated to begin Friday at the Saint Louis Billiken Classic, the Redbird women's tennis program is releasing its entire 2014-15 schedule.
The fall slate includes four tournaments, beginning this Friday, Sept. 5 and Saturday, Sept. 6 in St. Louis at the Billiken Classic. The Redbirds will then travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the Northern Iowa Invitational, Sept. 26-28.
First year Illinois State head coach Maja Kovacek hopes that experiences gained through the first two tournaments will help prepare ISU for the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships, scheduled to take place Oct. 3-5 in Des Moines, Iowa. The Redbirds will close their fall season at the ITA Midwest Regional in Champaign, Ill.
"The fall season tournaments will be key to our development as a team," Kovacek said. "It will give our young team an opportunity to gain valuable experience as they look to apply some things we're working on in practice. We will finish off the fall season at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships where we will face tough competition and see where we stand this year on a national level."
Kovacek and the Redbirds will open the spring season Jan. 25 at in-state rival Illinois. After traveling to IPFW, ISU's first home match will take place against Eastern Illinois at Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois, Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m.
The Redbirds will also host outdoor home matches against UIC (March 21), Drake (April 3) and Northern Iowa (April 4) at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Illinois. Illinois State's spring season will culminate at the MVC Team Championships in Evansville, Indiana, April 24-26, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We have a very challenging spring schedule with a lot of road matches," Kovacek said. "We will be tested early on against (currently ranked) No. 45 Illinois, and as the regular season goes on, our conditioning will really come into play. We need to make sure we are at our best in April when conference play begins against Drake."
Illinois State's returners in 2014-15 include junior Kadi Ilves and sophomore Natalia Parchowska. A 2014 MVC Scholar-Athlete selection, Ilves led the team in singles victories with a 21-8 overall record, including a 12-6 mark in dual competition last year, while earning a 16-14 overall doubles record.
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