NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team finished their second match of the weekend, dropping a close decision to Illinois Chicago, 4-3, Sunday morning at the Bloomington Tennis Center.
Freshman Elena Jankulovska and sophomore Tara Damnjanovic both won tie breakers In their matches to clinch points for the Redbirds. Jankulovska defeated UIC's Nell Arendt in a 7-6 tiebreaker in the second set at the No. 5 spot and Damnjanovic took down Georgia Colin 11-9 in the third set at No. 1. The 'Birds couldn't overcome the 1-0 deficit they faced after losing the doubles point though and fell to 2-2 on the season.
Redbirds Scoring Breakdown:
Singles competition
1. Tara Damnjanovic (ILST) def. Georgia Colic (UIC) 6-4, 2-6, 11-9
2. Karyna Bihel (UIC) def. Natalia Bravo(ILST) 6-3, 6-0
3. Lucie Prochazkova (UIC) def. Laura Fitzgerald (ILST) 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
4. Izzy Marshall (UIC) def. Ivon Mihaleva(ILST) 6-3, 6-3
5. Elena Jankulovska (ILST) vs. Nell Arendt (UIC) 6-4, 7-6(2)
6. Laura Arciniegas (ILST) vs. No Player (UIC)
Doubles competition
1. Georgia Colic/Izzy Marshall (UIC) def. Tara Damnjanovic/Natalia Bravo (ILST) 7-5
2. Karyna Bihel/Lucie Prochazkova (UIC) def. Laura Fitzgerald/ Elena Jankulovska (ILST) 6-4
3. Laura Arciniegas /Ivon Mihaleva (ILST) def. No Player (UIC)
Thoughts from Coach Maja Kovacek:
"A lot of credit to our opponents today for playing very well across the board. It made it hard for us to get going in the middle of the lineup. Tara and Elena have both shown a lot of improvement since the fall and it really showed it their matches today."
Up Next:
The Redbirds will be back in action to take on the Western Illinois Leathernecks at home on Saturday, February 8, at 11 a.m. Admission to the event is free.
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