NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team has announced its 2015-16 schedule, with the Redbirds opening their fall individual season at the Bradley Invitational Sept. 25-27 and playing 12 home matches in the spring.
"This year's schedule features 12 home matches, compared to the four we had last year," Second-year Head Coach Maja Kovacek said. "This is something we are really excited about since it will give our players a chance to play in front of their friends and family and enjoy a great atmosphere."
Following the season-opening Bradley Invitational, the Redbirds will travel to Springfield, Illinois, to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships Oct. 2-4. To close out the fall season, the team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Jamboree Oct. 23-25.
"All the time we are putting in now in the fall season is to make sure we have a strong base in order to compete well in the spring," Kovacek said. "We have a few tough challenges both physically and mentally in the regular season. We will play a double header against UMKC and Iowa, and our spring break trip will feature four matches in six days, starting with No. 33 ranked DePaul in Chicago. It will be physically and mentally very demanding, and a great opportunity to use the depth we have on the team this year."
The Redbirds start off their spring season with a home match against Southeast Missouri State at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois, on Jan. 29. The team will continue its three-game home stand against Western Illinois (Jan. 31) and Eastern Illinois (Feb. 6).
Illinois State then goes on the road for two matches, before returning home to face Indianapolis (Feb. 20) and Butler (Feb. 21). ISU looks to earn repeat victories against both Indianapolis and Butler.
Over spring break, the team will travel to the East Coast to compete against Charleston Southern (March 7), Savannah State (March 8) and the College of Charleston (March 10.)
The team will open Missouri Valley Conference play April 2 at home against Bradley. The Redbirds will continue their home stand against conference foes Evansville (April 9), Southern Illinois (April 10) and Wichita State (April 15) at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Illinois. ISU will finish its home conference stand April 16 against Missouri State.
The Redbirds will be on the road to end their regular season. They will first travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 23 to take on Northern Iowa, and for their final regular season match, they will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to compete against Drake.
ISU will then play in the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships hosted by Wichita State, in Wichita, Kansas, April 29-May 1.
Included among ISU's four returners are senior Kadi Ilves and junior Chanel Scudiero. An ITA Scholar Athlete, Ilves finished last season with an overall record of 12-19. Last season, Scudiero earned the singles title at the UNI Invitational and finished the season with an overall record of 11-18.
This season, the Redbirds have also added three new players to their roster: freshman Jana Kustkova, sophomore Veronika Golanova, and junior Marcia Tere-Apisah.
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