Redbirds Remain Undefeated In MVC With Tough 4-3 Win At UIC

CHICAGO – The Illinois State women's tennis team looked to stay undefeated on Friday, but had a tough road match ahead of it in Chicago at UIC. The Redbirds (13-6, 6-0 MVC) took and early lead and fought off a furious comeback by the Flames (9-9, 3-3 MVC) to come away with a close 4-3 win at the XS Tennis Center to move to 6-0 and remain in first place in the MVC.

"This was a fantastic match," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "I'm really proud of Tara (Damjanovic) and Tijana (Zlatanovic) leading the way and playing an amazing tie breaker to secure the doubles point. Singles was a battle from start to finish in every spot. Alex (Abyasova) did a fantastic job finishing that match, it took everything she had and she came through for a great team win."

The Redbirds got out to a strong start in doubles, as the No. 3 team of Elena Jankulovska and Nevena Kolarevic rolled to a 6-0 win. However, the Flames fought back to tie things up at the No. 2 spot with a 6-2 win to leave the deciding point to the No. 1 match. That match went to a tiebreaker, but the reigning MVC Doubles Team of the Week of Tara Damnjanovic and Tijana Zlatanovic played great when it counted, and they came away with a 7-6 win to secure the doubles point for the Redbirds.

ISU extended the lead to 3-0, after a 6-4, 6-3 win at the No. 5 spot by Silvia Pomarolli over UIC's Zara Ryan and a 7-5, 6-2 win at the No. 5 spot by Nevena Kolarevic. UIC would not go away though, as a win at No. 6 in straight sets and three-set victories at No. 4 and No. 1 tied things up. The match came down to court No. 2, where UIC's Tamara Malazonia could not break Alexandra Abyasova's MVC singles win streak as she picked up her sixth-straight win by a final of 6-3, 3-6, 5-7 to earn the victory.

The Redbirds wrap up their weekend MVC road trip on Saturday, when they square off against Valparaiso with first serve set for Noon. 

FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (4), UIC (3)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Tara Damnjanovic/Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Agnes Gustafsson/Natali Nikolopoulou (UIC) 7-6
No. 2 Tamara Malazonia/Cora-Lynn von Dungern (UIC) def. Alexandra Abyasova/Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) 6-2
No. 3 Elena Jankulovska/Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Lea Forste-Dinell/Rodriguez Gregoris (UIC) 6-0

Singles:
No. 1 Agnes Gustafsson (UIC) def. Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) 2-3, 6-2, 7-6
No. 2 Alexandra Abyasova (ILS) def. Tamara Malazonia (UIC) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Natali Nikolopoulou (UIC) 7-5, 6-2
No. 4 Ana Jover (UIC) def. Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 5 Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Zara Ryan (UIC) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 Paula Rodriguez Gregoris (UIC) def. Elena Jankulovska (ILS) 7-6, 6-2

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