EAST LANSING, Mich. - The first day of action at the ITA Midwest Regional begin well for the Illinois State women's tennis team, as each of the three competing Redbirds won their first-round singles matches to advance on in the multi-day tournament hosted by Michigan State.
In the singles qualifying first round, Tijana Zlatanovic, Silvia Pomarolli and Lana Caculovic each picked up victories in their first matches of the day. Zlatanovic rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 over Gaby Rondon of Toledo and Pomarolli took down Audrey Moutama of Toledo in three sets by a final of 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Caculovic rounded out the strong first round for the Redbirds with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Audrey Smitek of Western Michigan as all three Redbirds moved onto their second matches of the day in the round of 32.
Zlatanovic and Caculovic could not keep the momentum going in match two of the day as each were defeated, however Pomarolli punched her ticket to the round of 16 on Friday with a win over Kida Ferrari of Illinois, who won the first set 7-5 but withdrew from the match due to injury down 4-0 to Pomarolli in the second set. Pomarolli will take on Carrie Beckman of Notre Dame on Friday and Nevena Kolarevic will open her tournament in the main draw singles against Kari Miller of Michigan.
Doubles action will also commence on Friday, with the duo of Zlatanovic and Caculovic pairing up to take on Neuman and Furness of Bowling Green, the team of Nuria Sanz and Sofia Rodrigo competing against Fernandes and Stone of Valparaiso and Kolarevic and Pomarolli squaring off against Konieva and Razet of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.Â
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
