Bradley University Athletics

Tyler Earns Milestone Win as Braves Roll by NIU

Head coach Matt Tyler becomes second-winningest coach in Bradley women's tennis history as the Braves earn just their second all-time win against the Huskies

Match Results

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 1/27/2018 6:23:00 PM

Box Score PEORIA, IL - Fifth-year head coach Matt Tyler became the second-winningest coach in program history as the Bradley Women's Tennis team rolled to a 6-1 victory against in-state rival Northern Illinois (0-2) Saturday afternoon at the Clubs at River City.

The Braves (1-1) bounced back from a tight, 4-3 loss to Southeast Missouri State in Friday's dual match season-opener by breezing through the short-handed Huskies Saturday. Northern Illinois won the first 16 meetings in the all-time series through 2015, but Bradley now has won two of the last three match ups, both at home.

Having guided Bradley to the best 3-year record versus NCAA Division I competition in the program's history the last three years, Tyler earned his 41st career dual match victory Saturday. The 11th coach in Bradley history, Tyler now trails only Barb Nicoll, who won 103 duals from 1984-95, on the program's all-time wins list.

Facing a 5-player lineup from Northern Illinois, Bradley started fast in Saturday's dual. While the No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Victoria Gonzalez and Kinga Kovacs earned a default victory, the Braves swept the doubles point with a 6-4 win in the No. 1 position by Sandra Maletin and Natalia Barbery, followed by an 8-6 victory by Alexa Brandt and Malini Wijesinghe at No. 2.

After Kovacs was awarded Bradley's second point with a default win at No. 6 singles, the Braves quickly clinched the team victory when Maletin (6-1, 6-1) and Wijesinghe (6-2, 6-1) combined to drop just five games in their straight-sets victories at Nos. 1 and 3 singles, respectively. Brandt stretched the lead to 5-0 when she rallied for a 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles and Gonzalez secured the sixth point by adding a 3-sets win (6-2, 1-6, 7-5) of her own at No. 5 singles.

Northern Illinois avoided the sweep when Thisuri Molligoda held off Natalia Barbery at No. 2 singles - 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Bradley returns to action with a pair of road matches next weekend - Saturday (10 a.m.) at Wisconsin and Sunday (9 a.m.) at Chicago State. The Braves return home for two more in-state battles in a Feb. 10 doubleheader at the Clubs at River City, 10 a.m. against Western Illinois and 2 p.m. versus Eastern Illinois.

Print Friendly Version