INDIANAPOLIS, IN.-- The Illinois State women's tennis team (4-3) prevailed over Butler University of the Big East Conference (0-7) on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 4-1 inside the Bulldog Tennis Bubble. ISU battled to three singles wins and picked up the doubles point.
In singles play, junior Silvia Pomarolli defeated Norah Balthazor of the Bulldogs at No. 2 in straight-sets by a score of 7-6 (4), 6-4. At No. 4, junior Nuria Sanz picked up a win over Emma Beavin, 6-1, 6-4. The final win of the day came thanks to freshman Nicole Iosio who took the second-set tiebreaker 7-6 (5) after a 6-2 first set win against Lauren Cook.
In doubles play, the Birds swept all three matches with junior Lana Caculovic and Pomarolli winning 6-2 at the No. 1 position. At No. 2, freshman Emma Lindh and graduate student Elena Jankulovska won by a wide 6-3 margin. Rounding out doubles play was Sanz and Iosio to secure the early advantage with a 6-4 win against Emma Beavin and Balthazor.
Head coach Maja Kovacek was pleased with the team's start at Butler. "We did a great job showing up with good energy from the start. We played solid doubles, I'm happy with how we handled the run they made midway through singles matches to clinch the fourth point. This was a great team effort from everyone," Kovacek said.
Doubles:
No. 1- Lana Caculovic/Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) def. Metcalf/Arington (BU) 6-2
No. 2- Emma Lindh/ Elena Jankulovska (ISU) def. Cook/K. Beavin (BU) 6-3
No. 3- Nuria Sanz/ Nicole Iosio (ISU) def. E. Beavin/ Balthazor (BU) 6-4
Singles:
No. 1- Metcalf (BU) def. Lana Caculovic (ISU) 4-6, 6-4, 4-6
No. 2- Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) def. Balthazor (BU) 7-6 (4), 6-4
No. 3- Emma Lindh (ISU) vs K. Beavin (BU) 6-3, 0-6, 1-4 (UNF)
No. 4- Nuria Sanz (ISU) def. E. Beavin (BU) 6-1, 6-4
No. 5- Elena Jankulovska (ISU) vs Arlington (BU) 6-4, 3-6, 3-3 (UNF)
No. 6- Nicole Iosio (ISU) def. Cook (BU) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
UP NEXT-
The Birds will travel to Huntington, W.V. for back-to-back matches against the Marshall Thundering Herd (7-0) on Feb. 21 and Radford Highlanders (1-1) on Feb. 22.
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