NORMAL, Ill. – It was a busy day of tennis Friday at Bloomington Tennis & Turf, as the Illinois State women's tennis team hosted a pair of matches at its home indoor facility. After narrowly dropping a 4-3 decision to DePaul in the first match of the day, the Redbirds bounced back to defeat Illinois-Springfield, 5-2, in the nightcap.
"I'm really proud of the effort today. It was a very challenging day with a lot of tennis and a lot of long matches," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "We came up just short against a very good DePaul team, but there are a lot of positives to take out of it starting with our doubles play. We have shown a lot of improvement just from the previous week and that's a credit to our players' determination. We are just scratching the surface of what this team can do and I'm excited to get more opportunities against tough competition next weekend."
In the opening match against DePaul, the Redbirds got off to a great start by sweeping all three doubles matches to take the early point. Tara Damnjanovic and Tijana Zlatanovic won 6-2 at the No. 1 spot, the duo of Laura Fitzgerald and Natalia Bravo also had little trouble winning 6-4 at No. 2, and Jelena Karla Vujicic and Alicja Zduniak took care of business at the No. 3 spot 7-5. Zlatanovic capped off a solid match with a straight set win at the No. 1 spot and Laura Arciniegas took home a victory at the No. 6 spot, however DePaul won the remaining four singles matches to pick up the narrow victory.
Just like in the first match, the Redbirds took the doubles point in the second in the second match of the day against UIS. The duo of Zlatanovic and Abreu picked up a 6-2 win at the No. 1 spot, and Vujicic and Zduniak won 6-3 at the No. 2 spot to secure the point. Zlatanovic stayed undefeated on the day with a win at the No. 1 spot with a straight-set win and Elena Jankulovska earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 3 spot to secure the win for ISU.
The Redbirds return to action Sunday to wrap up the three-match weekend homestand against Kansas City, with first serve set for 9 a.m.
MATCH 1: DePaul 4, Illinois State 3
Singles competition:
1. Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. Aspasia Avgeri (DPU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Alina Kuzmenkova (DPU) def. Tara Damnjanovic (ISU) 6-3, 4-4 (ret)
3. Lenka Antonijevic (DPU) def. Natalia Bravo (ISU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Yuliya Kizelbasheva (DPU) def. Penelope Abreu (ISU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
5. Marija Jovicic (DPU) def. Laura Fitzgerald (ISU) 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2
6. Laura Arciniegas (ISU) def. Maddie Yergler (DPU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Zlatanovic/Damnjanovic (ISU) def. Antonijevic/Kizelbasheva (DPU) 6-2
2. Bravo/ Fitzgerald (ISU) def. Kuzmenkova/Jovicic (DPU) 6-4
3. Jelena Karla Vujicic/Alicja Zduniak (ISU) def. Avgeri/Yergler (DPU) 7-5
MATCH 2: Illinois State 5, Illinois-Springfield 2
Singles competition:
1. Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. Carol Quevedo (UIS) 6-0, 6-3
2. Sina Skjelstad (UIS) def. Penelope Abreu (ISU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Elena Jankulovska (ISU) def. Neha Mokhasi (UIS) 6-3, 6-1
4. Franca Bucco (UIS) def. Othilia Brodin (ISU) 6-3, 7-5, 0-1 (ret)
5. Alicja Zduniak (ISU) def. No Player
6. Jelena Karla Vujicic def. No Player
Doubles competition:
1. Zlatanovic/Abreu (ISU) def. Quevedo/Bucco (UIS) 6-2
2. Vujicic/Zduniak (ISU) def. Mokhasi/Skjelstad (UIS) 6-3
3. Jankulovska/Brodin (ISU) def. No Team
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