Illinois State Advances To MVC Championship Match With 4-2 Win Over Murray State

CHICAGO – After receiving a bye into the semifinals, No. 2 seed Illinois State squared off against No. 3 seed Murray State on Saturday at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, with a berth in the title match on the line. The Redbirds (17-6) took an early lead and never looked back against the Racers in a 4-2 victory at XS Tennis Village to advance to the championship match on Sunday against No. 5 seed Drake, who upset host and top seeded UIC in the other semifinal match.

The Redbirds took the doubles point, with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. The No. 1 tandem of Vittoria Benedetti and Silvia Pomarolli picked up a 6-4 win over Murray State's Valeria Chaikovskaia and Bruna Melata. The No. 3 duo of Lana Caculovic and Emma Lindh also earned a 6-4 victory, with their defeat of Arden Dethridge and Sofia Issakova to clinch the doubles point.

As the action moved to singles, the Racers took wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. The Redbirds earned points at the No. 5 spot from Nicole Iosio in straight sets over Melata by a score of 6-2, 6-4, and at the No. 6 spot by Emma Lindh who defeated Rebecca Widan by a final of 6-3, 6-3. ISU would then clinch the match and a berth in the title match when Pomarolli earned a hard-fought three set win over Chaikovskaia by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 to secure the victory.

FINAL SCORE: No. 2 Illinois State (4), No. 3 Murray State (2)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Vittoria Benedetti/Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) def. Valeria Chaikovskaia/Bruna Melata (MSU) 6-4
No. 2 Nicole Iosio/Nuria Sanz (ISU) vs. Yuna Kadowaki/Yu Kikawa (MSU) 6-5 unfinished
No. 3 Lana Caculovic/Emma Lindh (ISU) def. Arden Dethridge/Sofia Issakova (MSU) 6-4

Singles:
No. 1 Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) def. Valeria Chaikovskaia (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
No. 2 Yuna Kadowaki (MSU) def. Lana Caculovic (ISU) 6-2, 6-2 
No. 3 Yu Kikawa (MSU) def. Vittoria Benedetti (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Nuria Sanz (ISU) vs. Sofia Issakova (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 5-0 unfinished
No. 5 Nicole Iosio (ISU) def. Bruna Melata (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Emma Lindh (ISU) def. Rebecca Widan (MSU) 6-3, 6-3

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