PEORIA, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team wrapped up the second day of play and the doubles matches at the Bradley Invitational with a record of 2-2 in singles play, and 1-1 in doubles play. They will finish the final singles matches of the tournament Sunday.
"I thought we showed a lot of improvement today in singles," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said about today's matches. "We had to adjust to faster to the indoor conditions, and we did that well for the most part. Our doubles were solid again today and that is really encouraging when thinking about the rest of the season. Tara and Jelena played a great tournament. They are exciting to watch, and they still have a lot of upside and room for improvement. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do this season."
Sophomore Tara Damnjanovic and senior Jelena Vujicic took the championship in their doubles bracket, defeating Bradley's Natalia Barbery/Sandra Maletin by a score of 6-2. Junior Laura Fitzgerald and freshman Elana Jankulovska took second place in their doubles bracket, after falling to Bradley's Nina Marjanovic/Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti, 8-4.
"We came out with the right attitude and played to win," Damnjanovic said about their win today. "This tournament was a good start of the fall season and we already gained experience. I'm happy with my and Jelena's performance just because we had a good chemistry and good communication throughout all three matches."
Jankulovska will also be playing for third place tomorrow in her singles bracket, after falling to Bradley's Nina Marjanovic 4-6, 6-7. Fitzgerald and senior Laura Arciniegas will be playing against each other for the consolation championship in their bracket as well, after Fitzgerald defeated Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 and Arcineagas came back against three match points and defeated SIUE's Melissa Vizcardo 6-4, 4-6, 14-12.
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