RESULTS
NORMAL, Ill. – Going undefeated on its opening weekend, the Illinois State women's tennis team (2-0) defeated Western Illinois, 7-0 Sunday afternoon in front of its home crowd at the Evergreen Racquet Club.
"We didn't play our best tennis today, but I'm glad we found ways to win," said head coach Maja Kovacek. "Overall, I think this weekend went well. We got the match play we needed to get ready for Eastern Illinois coming up on Saturday."
With Western Illinois unable to field a No. 3 doubles team, ISU began the afternoon with the advantage. Chanel Scudiero and Valerija Gercar won by default. Marcia Tere-Apisah teamed up with Veronika Golanova to secure the doubles point by defeating Western Illinois' Courtney Lubbers and Maria Bessmertnaya, 6-1. To end doubles play, the ISU team of Jana Kustkova and Sarah Paulson topped Western Illinois' Arianna Demos and Nicole Jones, 6-2.
For the second straight match, ISU entered singles play having won the doubles point. The Redbirds started singles play at 2-0 due to a default win by Catherine Shulman. An undefeated Kustkova topped Demos in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Needing only one more victory to secure the win, Golanova pulled through, topping Bessmertnaya in two sets, 6-0, 6-3. Scudiero earned her first singles win of the season by defeating Jenna Wallace, 6-4, 6-2. After each dropping a set, Tere-Apisah and Paulson triumphed over their respective opponents to win their singles matches.
After this weekend's matchups, the Redbirds are 6-0 in doubles, 11-1 in singles and 2-0 overall.
The Redbirds are back in action Saturday, Feb. 6 against Eastern Illinois at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois, at 3 p.m. The match is free to the public. For updates on ISU women's tennis, follow them on Twitter: @RedbirdWTEN.
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