SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The highlight of the fall tennis season happens this weekend for Illinois State, as they head to Springfield, Missouri, to compete in the 2022 MVC Women's Individual Championships at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
"We played a lot of matches the last couple of weeks and I feel like we have prepared well for the MVC Individual Championships this weekend," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "Now, it's about making sure we perform on match day and handle the pressure and expectations."
The three-day tournament will begin on Friday and run through Sunday at the Cooper Tennis Complex, which features 12 indoor courts, 16 lighted outdoor courts, and an outdoor Mediacom Stadium court that seats 2,500. Play will begin at 9 a.m. each day, and teams will compete in seven singles flights and three doubles flights. The tournament will take place over eight different courts, and the matches are expected to conclude around 5 p.m. on Friday, 3-4 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
There will be nine teams competing in the championships including the Redbirds, Bradley, Drake, Missouri State, UNI and Valparaiso, as well as new conference members UIC, Belmont and Murray State.
Last year at the MVC Individual Championships, the Redbirds came away with four championships in total. The duo of Alexandra Abyasova and Laura Fitzgerald picked up a big win in doubles Flight No. 3 over Missouri State to come away with the first title for the Redbirds. Then in singles, Tijana Zlatanovic won a three-set thriller win the Flight No. 1 title and Penelope Abreu also brought home a championship winning in straight sets to take the Flight No. 6 crown. The final title came from Othilia Brodin, who in straight sets in Flight No. 7 to secure the fourth and final championship for the Redbirds.
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