After three consecutive road trips for the Bradley Braves tennis program, they walked away from their trip up north with their first victory of the season. The Braves split the weekend with a win against Chicago State and a loss against Illinois-Chicago.
Bradley won 6-1 against Chicago State on Saturday competing at the HF Racquet and Fitness Club. Everything was clicking for the Braves, beginning with their doubles play.
No. 1 pairing Kirstin Hailey and Madalena Andrade started Bradley off with a win, which was their first as a duo. Bozana Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz at No. 3, however, achieved their 32nd victory as a duo.
“If we’re playing well in our doubles, generally things tend to go well for us in singles, too,” Bradley head coach Matt Tyler said. “That’s something I’m excited about, and hopefully we can continue that trend.”
Perlwitz and sophomore Maria Bezmenova had first set victories in singles, while Lojpur and Perlwitz also won their opening sets. Lojpur was the first to finish, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 1 position. Hailey, Andrade, Nina Marjanovic, Bezmenova and Perlwitz also won in singles. Perlwitz’s win was the 54th of her career win in singles.
“It was my first game I won this season and I felt really good,” Bezmenova said. “I didn’t play for a month, so it was really good mentally for me to understand that I’m a good player.”
Tyler was particularly proud of the fashion in which the Braves picked up their first win of the season.
“Getting that first win under our belt makes everybody feel better about things,” Tyler said. “It wasn’t an easy win, either; we had a lot of three-set matches.”
Sunday’s match against future Missouri Valley team UIC did not result in favor of Bradley. In the affair at the XS Tennis Village, they lost 6-1.
Bezmenova shined once again, getting her second victory of the season. She moved up a spot to play at No. 4 as Hailey sat out during her singles match. The Russia native’s match started off rough, then she turned it around, going, 3-6, 7-5(5), 10-3 for Bradley’s only point of the day.
“The first set, I didn’t really feel good,” Bezmenova said. “I had a neck injury and Coach came to me and said, ‘Hey, I know you’re a good player. You can do it.’ I just believed in me and myself.”
The good thing for the team is that they finally get to compete at home this weekend for their first time at Parkside Fitness in Pekin.
“[We are] very excited about being home — all of us, coaches included,” Tyler said. “We’re amped for it.”
Eastern Illinois and Omaha make their trip to central Illinois, and BU has a lot more confidence after getting in the winning column.
“If we’re 100% healthy and get a good week of practice under our belts, there’s no reason we can’t win [against Eastern Illinois and Omaha],” Tyler said.
