NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team (10-7) is fresh off an undefeated weekend as it hosts Missouri Valley Conference opponents, Southern Illinois Friday (April 8) at 7:30 p.m. and Evansville Saturday (April 9) at 1 p.m. Friday's match is scheduled to be played indoors at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois, while Saturday's match is scheduled to be played outdoors at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts.
"We played well last weekend and had a good start to MVC competition," head coach Maja Kovacek said. "We played with a lot of confidence, and we will need to do the same in the following weeks. SIU is a good team with a lot of depth, and we will have to be at our best on Friday night."
Friday, The Redbirds will host Southern Illinois for their second MVC matchup of the season. Dating back to the 1976-77 season, ISU is 22-28 against SIU. The Salukis are 9-9 overall and 1-0 in the MVC. SIU captured their first MVC win against Evansville when they won, 7-0. Â Despite the 7-0 sweep against Evansville, the Salukis are 1-5 since March 5.Â
Saturday's MVC match against Evansville marks the 28th time the two teams have met on the courts since the 1991-92 season. ISU leads the series, 26-2. The Purple Aces are 7-13 overall and 0-1 in the MVC after losing, 7-0, to SIU last weekend. Before the Purple Aces face the Redbirds Saturday, they will first compete against Indiana Wesleyan Friday.Â
This past Weekend, ISU hosted South Dakota and Bradley. Friday versus South Dakota, the Redbirds captured the doubles point and went 6-0 in singles play to sweep South Dakota, 7-0. Saturday, ISU and Bradley went head-to-head in its Missouri Valley Conference opener. The Redbirds clinched the doubles point to head into singles play with the one-point advantage. ISU carried its momentum into singles, picking up four-straight victories to clinch the, 5-2 victory over the Braves. Marcia Tere-Apisah and Catherine Shulman both went 4-0 over the course of the weekend, and Tere-Apisah's singles win over Bradley marked her 20th win of the 2015-16 season.
Since the start of the 2016 season, the Redbirds are 7-1 overall at home, losing only to Wright State, 4-3, at the end of March. The Redbirds look to continue their success in front of their fans with their four reaming home matches against MVC opponents Southern Illinois, Evansville, Wichita State and Missouri State.
Friday's match will be played indoors at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday's match is scheduled to be played outdoors at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Illinois at 1 p.m.
In the event of inclement weather, Saturday's match against Evansville will be moved indoors to the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois, and will be pushed back to 4:30 p.m.
Admission is free, and there will be free pizza for fans Friday and free doughnuts Saturday. Stayed tuned to the women's tennis team's Twitter account and GoRebirds.com for updates on potential location changes due to weather. For updates on ISU women's tennis throughout the weekend, follow them on Twitter: @RedbirdWTEN.
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