Bradley’s tennis squad kicked off its spring season in the Windy City with defeats to last year’s Big East runner-up DePaul on Friday as well as Army on Jan. 21 and 22.
This is the second consecutive year that Bradley has kicked off its spring campaign against DePaul, losing 4-0 this time on Jan. 21. The Braves were swept 7-0 by the Black Knights the next day.
From the start, the Braves had to forfeit a point in both matches due to their shorthanded squad after being unable to field a third doubles team and a sixth player in singles.
Neither senior Nina Marjanovic nor sophomore Maria Bezmenova made an appearance, as Bezmenova was recovering from an injury and Marjanovic received a positive COVID-19 test.
While the results weren’t necessarily good on paper, head coach Matt Tyler said that the scoreboard told only one part of the story.
“I think it was a really great performance all around, even though the outcome wasn’t what we would have hoped for,” Tyler said. “Some of those scores were misleading to how close some of those matches actually were.”
Tyler expects senior Nikki Perlwitz and sophomore Madalena Andrade to step up for the Braves, who are coming off a solid fall season, as the season progresses.
“Nikki Perlwitz played two great matches, she wasn’t able to come away with the win in either one of them, but she’s someone whose level will improve over the next couple of weeks,” Tyler said. “Same with Madalena Andrade. [She] started rough in her matches, but was able to climb back in her second sets.”
Freshman Kirstin Hailey kicked off her spring campaign on the right foot with a 6-4 win in her first singles set. Ultimately, her second set remained unfinished, as the Blue Devils clinched the match before Hailey’s match ended.
“I was really happy with how I played, my serves were good and when my serves are good, it just sets me up really well,” Hailey said. “I’m excited to play more matches … I’m hoping to get more match experience in college and to work on mental toughness and resilience.”
With their absent players back in training and the first few matches out of the way, the Braves are ready for another weekend of tennis action. Looking ahead, Bradley is back on the road, as they go up against Wisconsin and Northern Illinois on Jan. 29 in Rockford, Illinois.
