RESULTS
WICHITA, Kan. – During Friday's opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships, the Illinois State women's tennis team was defeated by Bradley, 4-1.
Due to rain, Friday's quarterfinal matchup against the Braves was moved indoors to the Wichita Country Club. Because of limited space, ISU and Bradley played singles first on the four courts available. Since Bradley won four singles matches to clinch the victory, doubles competition was suspended.
Marcia Tere-Apisah came away with the lone win for the Redbirds in No. 2 singles by topping Alejandra de Lasa, 6-4, 6-2, to earn her 25th and final victory of the 2015-16 season. Veronika Golanova, Jana Kustkova and Catherine Shulman each forced their singles matches to a third set; however, it was not enough to push past their opponents.
In No. 1 singles, Golanova's second set rally fell just short as she lost to Ariel Dechter, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Shulman fell to Aimee Manfredo, 0-6, 6-3, 1-3, in No. 5 singles, while Kustkova was defeated by Ashely Thai, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in No. 3 singles. Kadi Ilves was overcome by Alexa Brandt in No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-1, and in No. 6 singles, Valerija Gercar was defeated, 6-1, 6-1, by Malini Wijesinghe.
Friday's quarterfinal loss marked the end of the 2015-16 season for the Illinois State women's tennis team, which recorded a 13-11 overall record, an 11-win improvement from the 2014-15 campaign. Tere-Apisah led the team in singles wins with 25 and Golanova finished a close second with 21 singles victories. The pair teamed up to go 13-2 in the No. 1 doubles position and 6-1 in MVC action.
The Redbirds will return with an experienced roster in 2016-17 after losing just two seniors, Ilves and Sarah Paulson, to graduation.
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