BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois State women's tennis team was back in action at home on Wednesday afternoon, as the Redbirds matched up against in-state foe Western Illinois and rolled to a 7-0 win over the Leathernecks at the Evergreen Racquet Club.
"I'm happy with our focus out there today from the first point," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "It was a quick turnaround from the weekend road-trip and we handled that really well."
The Redbirds got out to a quick start, sweeping the doubles matches to secure the first point of the contest. The No. 2 team of Alexandra Abyasova and Silvia Pomarolli rolled to a 6-2 win and the team of Elena Jankulovska and Nevena Kolarevic secured the point with their 6-2 win on court No. 3. For good measure, the No. 1 team of Tara Damnjanovic and Tijana Zlatanovic battled to a 7-5 win to secure the sweep.
In singles action, ISU secured straight-set wins in each of the six matches. Pomarolli was first off the court, as she breezed to a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5 over WIU's Agatha Carbonell. Kolarevic also wasted little time in securing a point for her team, as she also won by a score of 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 3 to make it 3-0 in favor of the Redbirds. A 6-3, 6-2 win by Jankulovska at the No. 6 spot then secured the match for the Redbirds, with three more matches left on the courts.
Zlatanovic was next to secure a win for the Redbirds, as she completed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Paige Grice at the No. 1 spot to make it 5-0 in favor of ISU. Her doubles partner Damnjanovic was next with her 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 4 spot and Abyasova closed things out on court No. 2 with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-1 win over WIU's Lara Rosetto Diniz de Souza.
The Redbirds will return to action on Wednesday, March 15, when they begin their spring break trip at South Carolina State before taking on the College of Charleston the next day.
FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (7), Western Illinois (0)
Doubles:Â
No. 1 Tara Damnjanovic/Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Lara Rosetto Diniz de Souza/Maria Rybka (WIU) 7-5
No. 2 Alexandra Abyasova/Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Lorena Castellanos/Paige Grice (WIU) 6-2
No. 3 Elena Jankulovska/Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Aina Cortina-Pou/Lucky Kancherla (WIU) 6-2
Singles:
No. 1 Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Paige Grice (WIU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 Alexandra Abyasova (ILS) def. Lara Rosetto Diniz de Souza (WIU) 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Lorena Castellanos (WIU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) def. Aina Cortina-Pou (WIU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Agatha Carbonell (WIU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 Elena Jankulovska (ILS) def. Lucky Kancherla (WIU) 6-3, 6-2
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
Â
