NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State's women's tennis team celebrated their first victory of the year at their home opener tonight, as they defeated EIU, 4-3.
New doubles pair, Laura Fitzgerald and Estelle Vanthier faced off against Srishti Slaria and Claire Martin in three doubles, and captured a 6-1 victory. Jana Kustkova and Ivon Mihaleva fell short to Rachel Papavasilopoulos and Karla Contreras in the fight for two doubles, 6-4. Veronika Golanova and Jelena Karla Vujicic followed up to secure the doubles point, by defeating their opponents Stella Cliffe and Grace Summers, 7-6 (1).
Vujicic started her dual season in the two singles spot against Cliffe and fell short, 6-4, 6-2. Kustkova launched her spring season in the four singles position against Contreras and defeated her for the first singles win of the season, 6-4, 6-1.
Fitzgerald played Martin in six singles for her first dual season opener with the Redbirds. She was able to defeat her opponent in two sets, 6-4, 6-3. The Redbirds lead 3-1 against the Panthers after Fitzgerald's win. Vanthier made her debut as a Redbird today against Summers in three singles. She took her opponent to three sets, but was defeated 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2.
Golanova began her spring season against Papavasilopoulos. She took the fight for one singles to three matches, but fell short 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Golanova's loss tied the score, 3-3, leaving Mihalevas match a tie breaker for the win. Mihaleva opened her first spring season as a Redbird in five singles against Slaria. After winning the first set 7-6(4), she fell short in the second, 4-6. Mihaleva was down 2-4 in the third set and came back to clinch the win for ISU, 7-6 (5).
Order of Finish:
Doubles – 3, 2, 1*
Singles – 2, 4, 6, 3, 1, 5*
RESULTS
The Redbirds return for their second match of the season tomorrow at home against Ball State. The match up begins at 1 p.m. and will be held at the Bloomington Tennis Center, located at 4101 Wicker Rd, Bloomington, Illinois.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
