VALPARAISO, Ind. – Illinois State could be coming home with a lot of hardware tomorrow, as the Redbirds advanced to the finals in all three doubles flights and in six of the seven singles flights at the 2021 MVC Individual Championships in Valparaiso, Indiana.
"We competed well today and found ways to win," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "We had four tough three-set matches that we managed to pull through and overall, we are in great position going into the last day of the tournament."
In doubles action, Tijana Zlatanovic and Maria Potsi cruised to an 8-1 win in Flight No. 1 over the team of Petushkova/Stephani from Drake to advance to tomorrow's finals. Tara Damnjanovic and Penelope Abreu rolled to an 8-3 win over Stony Brook's L. Rubio/Sou in Flight No. 2 to move onto the finals and Alexandra Abyasova and Laura Fitzgerald rounded out the clean sweep on the day in Flight No. 3 with a hard-fought 8-7 (9-7) over Lojpur/Perlwitz from Bradley.
Zlatanovic needed three sets to move onto the finals in Flight No. 1 of singles, as she defeated Missouri State's Tiffani Nash 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. In Flight No. 2, Abyasova also needed three sets to defeat Bradley's Bozana Lojpur by a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to advance to the finals. Potsi also needed three sets to secure a win over Stony Brook's Chandrika Joshi 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 in Flight No. 3 to advance to Sunday's title match.
In Flight No. 4, Damnjanovic took it to the limit but came away with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 win over Madalena Andrade of Bradley. Abreu cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Valpo's Isabella Schoolcraft in Flight No. 6 and Othilia Brodin took down UNI's Olivia Fain 7-5, 6-2 in Flight No. 7 to round out the strong day for the Redbirds.
The final day of action at the 2021 MVC Individual Championship will begin at 9 a.m. in Valparaiso with 10 titles on the line. Â Â Â
RESULTS
Singles:
•   Flight No. 1 – Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. Tiffani Nash (MSU) 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
•   Flight No. 2 – Alexandra Abyasova (ISU) def. Bozana Lojpur (BU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
•   Flight No. 3 – Maria Potsi (ISU) def. Chandrika Joshi (SB) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
•   Flight No. 4 – Tara Damjanovic (ISU) def. Madalena Andrade (BU) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
•   Flight No. 5 – Maria Bezmenova (BU) def. Elena Jankulovska (ISU) 6-4, 6-4
•   Flight No. 6 – Penelope Abreu (ISU) def. Isabella Schoolcraft (VALPO) 6-0, 6-0
•   Flight No. 7 – Othilia Brodin (ISU) def. Olivia Fain (UNI) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles:
•   Flight No. 1 – Zlatanovic/Potsi (ISU) def. Petushkova/Stephani (DU) 8-1
•   Flight No. 2 – Damnajovic/Abreu (ISU) def. Rubio/Sou (SB) 8-3
•   Flight No. 3 – Abyasova/Fitzgerald (ISU) def. Lojpur/Perlwitz (BU) 8-7 (9-7)
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