NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team finished the first day of the Redbird Invite with four different Redbirds making it to the championship round. Overall, the squad went 11-3 in singles play and 3-0 in doubles play.
Juniors Laura Fitzgerald and Ivon Mihaleva will play each other in the championship match of flight two, after both going 2-0 in their matches today. Senior Jelena Vujicic will play for the consolation championship, after picking up a win in her second match today. Senior Laura Arciniegas and freshman Elana Jankulovska will also play each other in the championship match of the third flight tomorrow, after both of the Redbirds went 2-0 in their matches as well. Sophomore Tara Damnjanovic will play for third place in flight one, after going 1-1 in her matches, and senior Natalia Bravo will play for the consolation championship in flight one after falling in her first match but picking up a win in her second match.
"I am very happy with my performance today," said Ivon Mihaleva. "It was a long day and I was able to stay consistent throughout my matches. I am excited for the matches tomorrow, since I am playing against Laura, and we will try and put up a good match against each other and have some fun at the same time."
All three doubles team won their matches today as well. Bravo and Fitzgerald will take on Washington State's Ates/Quadflieg and Mihaleva and Jankulovska will play against Vujicic and Damnjanovic in the semifinal round.
"I think we had a really good showing today," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "I'm really proud of Jelena and Natalia for bouncing back and getting a win in their second match. We have a few team matchups in the finals tomorrow, so I'm looking to see how our girls handle that."
The matches will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Bloomington Tennis Center beginning with the doubles semifinals, and admission to the tournament is free.
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