Bradley tennis competed against the Missouri State Bears on Saturday at Parkside Fitness in Pekin, earning its first conference victory 5-2. It was the second home match of the spring season for Bradley and the first Missouri Valley Conference women’s tennis affair broadcasted on ESPN3 this season.
The Braves captured the doubles point, partly due to sophomore Madalena Andrade and senior Nina Marjanovic and their 7-5 win at the No. 1 spot, and also thanks to Missouri State not having anybody to compete in the No. 3 spot. The team has earned doubles points in five out of its seven wins this season.
Saturday marked the first time Andrade and Marjanovic played together, as freshman Kirstin Hailey was sick and did not compete with her usual partner Andrade.
“I was super happy with their performance and proud of the way they handled that moment,” head coach Matt Tyler said.
The success from doubles translated to singles, as Bradley moved to a 2-0 advantage, thanks to a walkover at No. 6 Singles. The Braves did not slow down as Lojpur dominated at No. 1, winning 6-2, 6-0.
Missouri State has yet to collect a victory this season but has some talented players. One of those is Julliette Robinson, who had previously not lost a set since Feb. 19, the longest streak of any No. 1 player in the MVC. Lojpur changed that over the weekend with her win.
“[Bozana] was focused and just really played well, and never gave her opponent an opportunity to catch her breath, which is exactly what you want to do,” Tyler said.
Bradley dropped two close matches at No. 2 and No. 4 with Adrade falling 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 and Marjanovic losing 3-6, 6-3, 7-10.
In the last match, Perlwitz won 6-3, 6-4 as Bradley earned the 5-2 victory, moving the Braves to a 7-11 record on the season and 1-1 in the MVC.
“A home win is a good win,” Perlwitz said. “It was nice to have our first Missouri Valley Conference win at home.”
The Braves have a busy weekend in Iowa coming up as MVC action continues against Northern Iowa on Saturday and Drake on Sunday. The matches will both occur at 11 a.m.
“Right now, I think we are playing really good tennis, and I think it is just a matter of keeping everybody healthy and confident,” Tyler said. “As long as we can do that, I like our chances this weekend too.”
“It would be really great to get two wins against UNI and Drake, especially because they’re both MVC matches,” Perlwitz said. “But just going out there and trying our best and putting in as much effort as we can, that’s all you can ask for.”
