Bradley tennis (3-5) picked up a weekend sweep against Omaha (5-2) and Eastern Illinois (0-8) on Feb. 12, with both matches ending in 4-2 victories for the Braves.
Bradley doesn’t have an extensive history with Omaha, but continued its dominance against the Mavericks, as the Braves handed them their second loss of the season. On the other hand, Eastern Illinois is no stranger to Peoria, as they have faced off against the Braves 32 times.
The Braves tried out their new home the best way possible, with back-to-back matches at Parkside Fitness in Pekin. The Braves were not only able to gain wins against both teams, but also both Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards for best singles player and doubles team. Senior Bozana Lojpur won MVC Singles Player of the Week and sophomore Madelena Andrade and freshman Kirstin Hailey took home MVC Doubles Team of the Week.
Head coach Matt Tyler knows the work the team put into last weekend.
“[It was] intense and long,” Tyler said. “We warmed up at 8 a.m. and I didn’t get back home until 10 p.m. … Everybody feels better with spending the time when we come away with the win.”
The junior duo of Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz picked up their 34th doubles win in their match against EIU, taking them to third place for doubles wins in program history. Against Omaha, they recorded a gritty 7-6(2) victory at No. 3 doubles and repeated the job against EIU with a 6-2 victory.
“Like Coach Tyler says, never get too high when you win the doubles point [and] never get too low when you don’t,” Perlwitz said. “Me and [Lojpur] have been working hard to get that doubles point.”
Tyler was happy with the Braves’ ability to clinch the doubles point in each match, as he believes that is an area that his team has struggled with in the past.
“It is always a point of contention for us,” Tyler said. “Historically, we either play very well or very poorly. To have consistent results from our doubles teams definitely takes the pressure off of everybody.”
Freshmen Kirsten Hailey and sophomore Madalena Andrade continued developing into a powerful doubles team, as they delivered with a 6-1 win over EIU and a 6-4 win over Omaha.
Senior Nina Marjanovic and Lojpur added another victory to the stat sheet, as sophomore Maria Bezmenova held on to a fourth singles win in a row after her 7-6(2) victory against Omaha put the match to bed.
With the doubles point won against EIU, Bezmenova, Perlwitz and Lojpur’s victories at singles was enough for the win. According to Lojpur, there was noticeable fair play.
“The girl in the second match was very sportsmanlike,” Lojpur said. “I haven’t played a match like that against someone where it was highly competitive and intense, yet completely ethical.”
There was one last-minute lineup change, as Tyler gave the No. 4 singles spot against the Panthers to Bezmenova for the second match of the day.
“That was more a situation where we knew we were going to clinch, and I wanted Maria to get some experience and was not sure if she was going to go on,” Tyler said.
Bradley will return to action on Saturday with a home match against Western Illinois. The Braves have been able to outplay the Leathernecks for quite some time, as the last time Western beat Bradley was during the 2009-10 season.
