SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – With the match tied at 3-3, it all came down to the No. 4 singles match to decide the winner between top-seeded Illinois State and Drake on Saturday in the semifinals of the MVC Women's Tennis Team Championship. It was a close contest and needed three sets to decide it, but Drake came out on top and defeated the Redbirds 4-3 to advance to tomorrow's championship final at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
The Redbirds took the early lead in the match, winning two of three doubles matches to secure the doubles point. After Drake picked up a win at the No. 1 spot, the duo of Jelena Karla Vujicic and Alicja Zduniak took down Drake's Darinka Stepan and Ines Stephani, 6-4, at the No. 3 spot. That left it up to the No. 2 match, where Penelope Abreu and Laura Fitzgerald picked up a 7-5 win to take the early lead.
A quick 6-3, 6-3 win by MVC Player of the Year Zlatanovic at the No. 1 singles spot gave the Redbirds a 2-0 lead and a straight set win by Damnjanovic at the No. 2 spot made it 3-0 in favor of the Redbirds. However, Drake rallied with wins at the No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 spots to tie the match at 3-3.Â
That left the decision to the No. 4 match between ISU's Laura Arciniegas and Drake's Maria Tatarnikova. Arciniegas took the first set 6-2, but Tatarnikova bounced back to win the second set 7-6 in a tiebreaker and then won the third and deciding set 7-5 to secure the win for Drake.
DRAKE 4, ILLINOIS STATE 3
 Singles competition:
1. Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Liza Petushkova (DU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) def. Daria Walczak (DU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Ines Stephani (DU) def. Natalia Bravo (ILS) 7-5, 0-6, 6-1
4. Maria Tatarnikova (DU) def. Laura Arciniegas (ILS) 2-6, 7-6, 7-5
5. Darinka Stepan (DU) def. Penelope Abreu (ILS) 7-6, 2-6, 6-1
6. Kelsey Neville (DU) def. Laura Fitzgerald (ILS) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. Liza Petushkova/Maria Tatarnikova (DU) def. Tijana Zlatanovic/Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) 6-3
2. Laura Fitzgerald/Penelope Abreu (ILS) def. Kelsey Neville/Daria Walczak (DU) 7-5
3. Jelena Karla Vujicic/Alicja Zduniak (ILS) def. Darinka Stepan/Ines Stephani (DU) 6-4
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