NORMAL, Ill. – The Redbirds remain perfect and improve to 5-0 after defeating Chicago State 6-1. The Redbirds fell 2-1 in doubles play but bounced back and went 6-0 in singles play.
Tara Damnjanovic was the first on the board for the 'Birds taking down Kristina Pukhaeva 6-2, 6-2. With that win, the freshman is now 3-0 in singles play on the season. Senior Jana Kustkova also remained perfect with her singles win and is 4-0 in singles play. This is the third time this season that the Redbirds have swept the singles play, including their last two games against UMKC and Lewis.
Redbirds Scoring Breakdown:
Singles competition
1. Veronika Golanova (ILST) def. Anastasiia Goncharova (CSU) 6-2, 7-5 (1)
2. Tara Damnjanovic (ILST) def. Kristina Pukhaeva (CSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Jana Kustkova (ILST) def. Katarina Drazic (CSU) 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-2
4. Natalia Bravo (ILST) def. Diana Borodina (CSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Ivon Mihaleva (ILST) def. Iesha Shepard (CSU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
6. Laura Fitzgerald (ILST) def. Lizi Morgoshia (CSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Kristina Pukhaeva/Lizi Morgoshia (CSU) def. Veronika Golanova/Jana Kustkova (ILST) 6-4
2. Tara Damnjanovic/Natalia Bravo (ILST) vs. Diana Bordina/Andjela Dejanovic (CSU) 6-3
3. Anastasiia Goncharova/Iesha Shepard (CSU) def. Jelena Vujicic/Laura Fitzgerald (ILST) 6-1
Thoughts from Coach Kovacek:
"Chicago State played good doubles and we started out with some errors and got ourselves in too big of a hole at No.1 and No.3 spots. We had to make sure we got the singles started with more energy and focus and we did that well. Tara and Natalia led the way today. It was important to get those first couple of singles wins to get us back on track, and they helped us get there."
Up Next: The Redbirds remain in Normal to face UIC with the match time set for 11 a.m.
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