Redbirds Edged Out By Drake, 4-3, in MVC Championship Match

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship featured the same two teams that squared off in last year's championship match in top seeded Illinois State and No. 2 seed Drake. This time, the showdown took place on Illinois State's home courts and in a reversal of last year's outcome, the Bulldogs edged out the Redbirds 4-3 to win the league title and secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The doubles point was fiercely contested, with Drake taking the early advantage with a 6-3 win at No. 2. The Redbirds' top doubles tandem then tied things up at the No. 1 spot, as Tara Damnjanovic and Tijana Zlatanovic won by a score of 7-5. That left the decision to court No. 3, where Drake's Rebecca Ehn and Elizabete Klavinska defeated the team of Elena Jankulovska and Nevena Kolarevic in a close 7-5 match to secure the doubles point for the Bulldogs. 

Kolarevic, the 2023 MVC Freshman of the Year, got off to a great start in singles and rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win to tie the match up at 1-1. The Redbirds then took the lead when Zlatanovic won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 1 spot to make it 2-1 in favor of ISU. A win at No. 5 for Drake then brought the score to 2-2, before a 6-3, 6-1 win by Damnjanovic at No. 4 made it 3-2. Drake then tied up the match with a win by Ehn at No. 6 to leave the match in the outcome on court No. 2, where Mille Haagensen defeated ISU's Alexandra Abyasova by a score of 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the match and the MVC title.

FINAL SCORE: #2 Drake (4), #1 Illinois State (3)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Tara Damnjanovic/Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Mille Haagensen/Darinka Stepan (DRA) 7-5
No. 2 Oriana Parkins-Godwin/Ines Stephani (DRA) def. Alexandra Abyasova and Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) 6-3
No. 3 Rebecca Ehn/Elizabete Klavinska (DRA) def. Elena Jankulovska and Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) 7-5

Singles:
No. 1 Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Ines Stephani (DRA) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Mille Haagensen (DRA) def. Alexandra Abyasova (ILS) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Elizabete Klavinska (DRA) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) def. Darinka Stepan (DRA) 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Oria Parkins-Godwin (DRA) def. Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 Rebecca Ehn (DRA) def. Elena Jankulovska (ILS) 6-1, 6-3

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