NORMAL, Ill. - Veronika Golanova enters her final season with the Redbirds as she competes at the Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, California, which is set to begin Thursday, Sept. 20. Golanova is the sole player to represent the Missouri Valley Conference at the event and will begin her first match at 1 p.m. CST.
The 2018 MVC Player of the Year received the invitation to play, after earning such distinctions from the league office. The winner of this tournament automatically wins a bid into the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which is the last tournament of the fall season. The Fall Championships is the culmination of the whole fall tournament season and players earn bids based on their performance.
Golanova finished the 2017-2018 season with a record of 20-12, 13-9 in dual play, 7-3 in tournament play and 5-0 in MVC play. She posted the best No. 1 singles record in the Valley and was also named the MVC women's tennis POY. Golanova was a finalist in the No. 1 singles spot in the MVC Individual Championships, was named to the No. 1 singles all-conference team and was selected for the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.
The returning senior also earned the top spot in doubles with her partner Jelena Vuijcic and claimed the championship as the No. 1 seed in the MVC Individual Championships. The duo also qualified for the ITA Midwest Regionals with a record of 16-5 overall, which will take place in October.
Head Coach Maja Kovacek said "Veronika was a fantastic competitor last year. She showed incredible resilience coming back from surgery and was consist in her high level of play throughout the whole year, finishing off with a 5-0 record in MVC regular season. I'm really excited for her to have an opportunity to compete at the top collegiate level at one of the premiere events in the Fall."
The Oracle ITA Masters will be played at the Malibu Racquet Club and Pepperdine University and the event is free to attend. For more information click here.
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