NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Just as it was during the regular-season matchup between UIC and Illinois State, Saturday's MVC Tennis Championship semifinal match between the Flames and the Redbirds came down to the wire as Nuria Sanz picked up a three-set win at the No. 5 spot to secure the win for ISU. With the victory, the Redbirds will play top seeded Murray State in the MVC Championship title match tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT at the Belmont Tennis Complex.
Today was a total team win. We didn't start the match well in doubles, but we did good job moving on from that and starting the singles playing very aggressive," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "To UIC's credit, they kept fighting and played better as the match went on to force the deciding match. Nuria did a fantastic job in the third set playing composed and aggressive at the right times. She has come such a long way this year and I'm so proud of how she handled herself today to clinch the win for us."
UIC took the early advantage in the match, picking up wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots to secure the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead. However, as the action moved to singles play the Redbirds quickly erased that advantage, thanks to a Lana Caculovic victory over Tamara Malazonia by a final of 6-2, 6-2 and the No. 2 spot and then ISU took the lead 2-1 when Tijana Zlatanovic rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Agnes Gustafsson at the top spot.
The Redbirds would then extend their lead to 3-1, when Sofia Rodrigo defeated Anais Brion by a score of 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 6 spot. However, the Flames would bounce back with three-set victories at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots to knot the match at 3-3 and leave the decision to court No. 5 and Sanz. After winning a tiebreaker in set one to take the advantage in the match, Sanz dropped a tiebreaker in set two to even things up with UIC's Zara Ryan. However, she bounced back with a solid 6-3 win in the third and deciding set to win the match and give the Redbirds the 4-3 win over the Flames.
FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (4), UIC (3)
Doubles:Â
No. 1 Tijana Zlatanovic/Lana Caculovic (ILS) vs. Agnes Gustafsson/Mayu Ushio (UIC) 6-5, unfinished
No. 2 Tamara Malazonia/Camille Belberka (UIC) def. Silvia Pomarolli/Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) 6-4
No. 3 Rodriguez Gregoris/Zara Ryan (UIC) def. Nuria Sanz/Zoe Limparis (ILS) 6-2
Singles:
No. 1 Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Agnes Gustafsson (UIC) 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 Lana Caculovic (ILS) def. Tamara Malazonia (UIC) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Mayu Ushio (UIC) def. Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 Camille Belberka (UIC) def. Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
No. 5 Nuria Sanz (ILS) def. Zara Ryan (UIC) 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3
No. 6 Sofia Rodrigo (ILS) def. Anais Brion (UIC) 6-4, 6-4
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