NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team will play for the championship of the Redbird Invitational, after defeating Dayton, 4-1, Saturday morning in the semifinals. The Redbirds will play Bowling Green State in the championship match at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, after BGSU beat UW-Milwaukee in the second semifinal match of the day.
Thoughts from Coach Maja Kovacek:
"I'm really proud of the way we handled ourselves today. It's always hard to play shorthanded and we handled that added pressure well and showed a lot of improvement since last week."
The 'Birds came back to win the doubles point after dropping the first matchup of the day. Sophomore Tara Damnjanovic and junior Laura Fitzgerald took down Paige Kompa and Kelly Pleiman at the No. 1 spot. Senior Laura Arciniegas and freshman Elena Jankulovska then clinched the doubles point for the team, defeating Elizabeth Hamilton and Emily Zargham, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot.
Moving on to the singles round, Arciniegas extended her win streak to seven in a row with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Erica Wojcikiewicz. The Columbia native is still undefeated this season and is looking to push that streak to eight tomorrow in the championship. Jankulovska and junior Ivon Mihaleva also won in the No.4 and No. 5 spots, respectively, to get the Redbirds the win.
"I am very happy we got the win today," said Laura Arciniegas when asked about the win. "I will keep working hard to help the team get better results. Today we did a great job and had the focus we needed. We will keep it up to win the championship tomorrow."
Redbirds Scoring Breakdown:
Singles competition
1. Tara Damnjanovic (ILST) vs. Paige Kompa (DAY) 3-6, 4-5 DNF
2. Laura Fitzgerald (ILST) vs. Kelly Pleiman (DAY) 4-6, 6-1, 3-0 DNF
3. Laura Arciniegas (ILST) def. Erica Wojcikiewicz (DAY) 7-5, 6-1
4. Elena Jankulovska (ILST) def. Emily Zargham (DAY) 6-3, 6-4
5. Ivon Mihaleva (ILST) def. Natalie Allen (DAY) 7-5, 6-3
6. Claire Ghidotti (DAY) def. No Player (ILST) Win by Default
Doubles competition
1. Tara Damnjanovic/Laura Fitzgerald (ILST) def. Paige Kompa/Kelly Pleiman (DAY) 6-3
2. Elena Jankulovska/Laura Arciniegas (ILST) def. Elizabeth Hamilton/Emily Zargham (DAY) 6-4
3. Natalie Allen/Erica Wojcikiewicz (DAY) def. No Player (ILST) Win by Default
Up Next: The Redbirds will match up against Bowling Green State in the championship match Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the Bloomington Tennis Center.
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