After its weekend road trip to Iowa, Bradley’s tennis team made its way back to the Hilltop with a win against UNI and a loss against Drake, moving to 8-12 overall and 2-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Bradley began its road trip with a matchup against UNI (4-11) at the UNI Tennis Complex in Waterloo, Iowa, and picked up their second straight MVC win, 5-2.
The duo of Madalena Andrade and Kirstin Hailey set the tone early on at the No. 1 spot with a dominant 6-0 victory. Nikki Perlwitz and Bozana Lojpur clinched the Doubles point at the No. 2 spot with a 6-2 victory and to put the cherry on top, Maria Bezmenova and Nina Marjanovic at No. 3, 6-3.
Bradley head coach Matt Tyler has always put a strong emphasis on getting the Doubles point, especially with his 2022 team.
“That Doubles point is critical … It just lets us relax a little bit,” Tyler said.
That Doubles point proved to be important, as it pushed the Braves over the edge when Singles play rolled around.
At No. 1 Singles, Lojpur lost 3-6, 0-6, giving UNI a good start, but the freshman Hailey quieted their run at the No. 2 spot with a win in straight sets. Andrade finished next at No. 3 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory and Perlwitz followed at the No. 6 spot with a win in two sets to put the Braves up 4-1.
Bezmenova went to three sets in her match at the No. 4 position, eventually losing 6-4, 4-6, 5-7. Finally, Marjanovic collected a three-set win at No. 5 after dropping the first set.
The Braves had some brief rest and capped off their weekend in Des Moines, Iowa at The Roger Knapp Tennis Center in a 6-1 loss against Drake.
The Bulldogs are undefeated in conference play, 12-6 overall and presented a great challenge to Bradley, but the match was a lot closer than the 6-1 loss shows.
Andrade and Hailey continued their strong weekend getting a 6-2 victory at the No. 1 spot in doubles. Bezmenova and Marjanovic were defeated 3-6, while Perlwitz and Lojpur narrowly lost 5-7.
The win capped off an undefeated weekend from the tandem of Andrade and Hailey and they took home MVC Doubles Team of the Week for the third time this season, the most for a duo in Bradley history and tops in the MVC this season.
“Last weekend was definitely a breakthrough for us,” Hailey said. “We were just really good with our communication.”
“[Andrade and Hailey are] clicking, which is great,” Tyler added. “I think that bodes very well for obviously the rest of the season, but the future too.”
Singles went the way of the Bulldogs as they took five out of six against the Braves. Three of the six matches went to three sets, while the lone point of the day came from Perlwitz winning in three sets, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Perlwitz advanced to 4-0 on the season in singles and became the only undefeated No. 6 player in the conference. She has won nine of her last 11 singles matches.
“She just plays her game, and she’s good at that game,” Tyler said. “She’s somebody we certainly rely on weekend in and weekend out to come up with W’s for us.”
Bradley continued its season on April 14, losing a non-conference battle against Saint Louis before they wrap its regular season up against Valparaiso at the Markin Tennis Courts on Saturday.
The Valparaiso match will be crucial in preparing for the MVC Tournament later this month.
“We’re going to have to make sure these next two weeks of practice are super focused and that we’re getting the most out of it we can,” Tyler said. “But, if we play to our potential, there’s no reason that we can’t win the whole thing. I think my team understands that too.”
