With an even 1-1 week, Bradley tennis rebounded with a hard fought win against St. Thomas in Minnesota after losing to in-state Southern Illinois-Edwardsville earlier in the week.
Kicking off the slate last weekend, the Braves took on the Cougars in Pekin but lost the needed doubles set which set up the 4-1 overall loss.
The sophomore-junior team of Kirstin Hailey and Madalena Andrade lost their doubles matchup 6-1. Freshman Anna Belogliadova and junior Maria Bezmenova inched closer but fell 6-3 in their doubles action. However, the Braves wouldn’t go winless.
The freshman pairing of Mariia Pukhina and Madi Rodgers were able to sneak by in their doubles set with an exciting 5-4 standoff victory.
“A lot of credit [goes] to SIUE,” Bradley head coach Matt Tyler said. “Anna [Belogliadova], and Maria [Bezmenova] couldn’t quite get over the hump after the doubles were over [but] I felt we came back well in our singles matches to try and fight back.”
Heading into singles, Pukhina took a 6-4 decision in her first set, but was retired on 6-2, 6-1 defeats. Belogliadova followed it up with a competitive effort, but lost both matches 7-6, 6-3.
Hailey fell in similar fashion with a 6-2, 6-3 loss in straight sets but Bradley did get their first singles win of the day through Bezmenova who had to stave off her opponent for duel 7-6 victories. Andrade’s match was ruled a DNF after losing her first set 6-1.
“We decided to play to clinch: once a team gets to four-point total, the matches discontinue because it’s out of seven,” Tyler said, speaking on what went into the DNF decision. The same thing happened to Alexandra Hildreth. Overall, the team lost 4-1 to SIUE.
Looking for something better, the Braves traveled to Bloomington, Minnesota, two days later for a match at St Thomas. This time they started the doubles with a 6-3 win from Hailey and Andrade. Following that, another win for Belogliadova and Bezmenova came at a 6-4 final. Hoping to sweep the doubles, the Braves were held back with a 6-4 loss from the team of Pukhina and Rodgers.
Pukhina started the Braves off in singles but fell on the wrong side of another one, losing 6-3, 6-2. Belogliadova traded blows in her matchup, losing 6-1 in the first set but winning the following set 6-3. In the deciding set, she was edged out in a 7-6 defeat.
Hoping to recover, Hailey stormed back after a 6-4 first set loss by winning her next to by a score of 6-2. Keeping the momentum, Bezmenova almost shut out her opponent with a 6-0 win followed by a 6-1 victory. Andrade won her sets more competitively with a 6-4 and 7-5 decision.
Hildreth lost in three sets, winning her first 6-2 but losing the following 6-2, 6-4. Nonetheless, Tyler and the group were heading back to Peoria with another one in the win column.
“It was big for us [and] it was a tight match,” Tyler said. “[It] was one we certainly could have lost [but we gained] a lot of confidence after a win like that. Hopefully, we can take that confidence into Friday and Saturday this week.”
The Braves next take on Northern Illinois in DeKalb today before traveling back home for a showdown with Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
