NORMAL, Ill. – Playing in its third match in as many days, the Illinois State women's tennis team wrapped up its season-opening homestand by gutting out a 4-3 win over Kansas City Sunday morning at Bloomington Tennis & Turf.
"It was a tough match today and I'm really happy with how we competed," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "The energy was great in doubles and being able to secure that point proved to be the deciding factor."
The Redbirds swept all three doubles matches to take the early point. Tijana Zlatanovic and Penelope Abreu won 6-4 at the No. 1 spot, Laura Fitzgerald and Natalia Bravo also won 6-4 at No. 2, and Jelena Karla Vujicic and Alicja Zduniak won 6-2 at No. 3 to complete the sweep.
Zlatanovic continued her strong weekend of play, taking a straight set win over UMKC's Riddhi Sharma 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 1 singles spot. Bravo followed with a 6-2, 6-3, win at No. 2 over Tuana Tinaztepe to secure the Redbirds' third point of the match. However, UMKC won at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots to trim the Redbird lead to 3-2, as the final two courts were left to decide the winner. Laura Arciniegas and Laura Kresovic of UMKC needed three sets to decide the outcome of their match at No. 5, with Arciniegas winning 6-4 in the first set and Kresovic taking the second set 6-4. It all came down to the third set, which Arciniegas won 6-3 to pick up the fourth point for the Redbirds and secure the victory.
ISU returns to the court Friday, Feb. 5, for a 1 p.m. match at Northern Illinois and then heads to SEC country to take on the Missouri Tigers in a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m.
ILLINOIS STATE 4, KANSAS CITY 3
Singles competition:
1. Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. Riddhi Sharma (UMKC) 6-3, 6-1
2. Natalia Bravo (ISU) def. Tuana Tinaztepe (UMKC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Grace Ball (UMKC) def. Penelope Abreu (ISU) 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3
4. Thanushree Vale (UMKC) def. Laura Fitzgerald (ISU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Laura Arciniegas (ISU) def. Eva Kresovic (UMKC) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. Michela Xibilia (UMKC) def. Elena Jankulovska (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Penelope Abreu/Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. Riddhi Sharma/Michela Xibilia 6-4
2. Laura Fitzgerald/Natalia Bravo (ISU) def. Grace Ball/Eva Kresovic 6-4
3. Jelena Karla Vujicic/Alicja Zduniak (ISU) def. Thanushree Vale/Tuana Tinaztepe (UMKC) 6-2
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