NORMAL, Ill. – The regular season is quickly coming to a close for the Illinois State women's tennis team, as the Redbirds look to stay near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings as they travel to the state of Iowa for a pair of weekend matches against UNI and Drake.
The Redbirds will begin the weekend with a 1 p.m. match on Saturday in Cedar Falls against UNI, before heading to Des Moines on Sunday to square off against Drake at 2 p.m.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
• The Redbirds (13-6) currently sit in a tie for second place in the MVC standings with a 4-1 mark trailing only Murray State, who's undefeated in conference play with a 4-0 record that includes a 4-3 win over ISU.
• ISU won its last three matches, including a 6-1 victory against Bradley last weekend in Normal.
• Senior Tijana Zlatanovic has twice earned Missouri Valley Conference Singles Player of the Week honors this spring and took home MVC Doubles Team of the Week honors with partner Lana Caculovic after they went 2-0 to open MVC play.
• Nevena Kolarevic (4-1) and Silvia Pomarolli (5-0) have been stellar in the middle of the singles lineup for the Redbirds during conference play, while Zlatanovic and Caculovic both hold 3-2 marks at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots respectively.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• UNI (3-13) heads into the match looking for its first win since March 2 and currently hold an 0-5 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.
• UNI has dropped its last six duals, coming up short in a 7-0 loss at UIC and 6-1 loss at Valparaiso last weekend.
• The Panthers will play their final three duals of the 2023-24 season on their home courts with warm weather on the horizon, as they welcome in the Illinois State and Bradley this weekend to the UNI Tennis Courts.
• Darta Dalecka leads the Panthers in singles play with a 13-15 record on the season, while Andrijana Brkic has recorded a 12-8 mark. In doubles, Brkic and Dalecka continue their hunt for their first win as a duo after four matches played together this year, as Issa Sullivan and Kanyanut Sudsaard look for their second as a pairing.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• Drake (7-10) has won two of its last three matches and holds a 3-2 mark against Missouri Valley Conference opponents.
• The Bulldogs are currently tied with Belmont for the fourth-place spot in the conference standings.
• Last weekend, Drake split road matches against Missouri State and Murray State as the Bulldogs took down Missouri State, 4-1, but lost 4-3 to Murray State on the following day.
• Senior Ines Stephani competes in the top singles spot for Drake, and pairs with graduate student Rebecca Ehn to form Drake's top doubles duet. The duo went 2-0 last weekend and were the catalyst for the Bulldogs winning the doubles point in both matches.
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