Redbirds Pick Up Close 4-3 Win On The Road At SIUE

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – For the third match in a row, the Illinois State women's tennis team had battle and this time the Redbirds (6-3) came out on the positive side thanks to a three-set tiebreaker win by Silvia Pomarolli to give ISU a narrow 4-3 win over the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars on the road Friday afternoon.

"We started the match much better in doubles today compared to last weekend and that proved to be an important point," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "Silvia was again in a deciding match situation, and she did a fantastic job playing free in crucial moments. I'm really proud of her."

The Redbirds jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point, thanks to victories at the top two spots. The No. 1 tandem of Lana Caculovic and Tijana Zlatanovic defeated Jill Lambrechts and Jordan Schifano of SIUE by a score of 6-3 to start things off, and the crucial doubles point was clinched thanks to a win at No. 2 by the team of Nevena Kolarevic and Pomarolli who picked up a 6-2 victory over Stefaniya Anikina and Amelia Gorman.

As the action moved to singles, ISU went up 2-0 in the match following a straight set win by Caculovic over Margaux Guibal Britt by a final of 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 2 spot. A win by SIUE at the No. 1 spot would then trim the Redbird lead to 2-1, before Kolarevic defeated Jordan Schifano 6-2, 7-5 at the No. 3 spot to make the score 3-1 in favor of ISU.

Wins by the Cougars at No. 5 and No. 6 would then tie the match at 3-3, leaving things up to Pomarolli and Gorman on court No. 4. Gorman took the first set 6-4, before Pomarolli fought back to win the second set 6-4 sending the match to a third set. The third set went back and forth and eventually ended in a tiebreaker, with Pomarolli winning to take the match 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 and secure the 4-3 win for the Redbirds.

Illinois State returns home on Sunday, as the Redbirds welcome in Milwaukee for a noon match at Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill. Following Sunday's match against Milwaukee, the team will be hosting a free Kids Clinic from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Kids 12 and under are able to participate and should register prior to Sunday on the link in the weekend preview on GoRedbirds.com.

FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (4), Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (3)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Lana Caculovic/Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. Jill Lambrechts/Jordan Schifano (SIUE) 6-3
No. 2 Nevena Kolarevic/Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) def. Stefaniya Anikina/Amelia Gorman (SIUE) 6-2
No. 3 Zoe Limparis/Nuria Sanz (ISU) vs. Margaux Guibal Britt/Cydney Rogers (SIUE) 4-5 [unfinished]

Singles:
No. 1 Jill Lambrechts (SIUE) def. Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 Lana Caculovic (ISU) def. Margaux Guibal Britt (SIUE) 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 Nevena Kolarevic (ISU) def. Jordan Schifano (SIUE) 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) vs. Amelia Gorman (SIUE) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6
No. 5 Stefaniya Anikina (SIUE) def. Nuria Sanz (ISU) 7-6, 6-2
No. 6 Fabiola Perez (SIUE) def. Zoe Limparis (ISU) 6-3, 6-2

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