NORMAL, Ill. – The quest for a third-straight MVC regular season championship for Illinois State begins Sunday, when the Redbirds (9-5) open Missouri Valley Conference play against I-74 rival Bradley (6-10) at 4 p.m. at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington.
"With a weekend off after the non-conference season, we had a lot of time to prepare and right now we are just eager to get in front of the home crowd and compete," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "With a rivalry match as the season opener, there will be no lack of motivation from both teams, and I expect a battle."
The Redbirds head into the MVC opener on a two-match win streak but have not competed since wrapping up their spring trip in California on March 11. ISU went 2-1 on its spring trip, dropping a close 4-3 decision to Marquette before picking up wins against Grand Canyon and UC Irvine out West. Following the spring trip, Alexandra Abyasova and Laura Fitzgerald were named the Missouri Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week after they won twice to move their record to 16-2 this season.
The Braves went 2-2 last week during Bradley's spring break trip, with wins against Merrimack and North Dakota. They most recently competed last Sunday at home against Murray State by a score of 5-2. Following those contests, BU swept The Valley's weekly awards as Bozana Lojpur won Singles Player of the Week and Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz won Doubles Team of the Week.
Links to live results for the match can be found on the women's tennis schedule page on GoRedbirds.com.
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