PEORIA, Ill.
-- Playing outdoors for the first and only time at the Markin Tennis Courts this spring, the Bradley women's tennis team dropped a 7-0 Missouri Valley Conference decision to Northern Iowa Sunday afternoon.
The visiting Panthers (13-7 overall, 2-4 MVC) won the doubles point but not before the Bradley (8-11 overall, 0-6 MVC) doubles pairing of junior Emily Regenold (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton H.S.) and sophomore Nicole Miller (Glendale Heights, Ill./Glenbard West H.S.) earned their 16th win together this year with an 8-6 triumph over Sampada Kanade and Diana Mendez at No. 1. UNI won the remaining two doubles matches by an identical 8-0 score to earn the doubles point and the early lead in the dual. Laia Gonzalez-Garrido and Phoebe Walker topped the BU pairing of junior Kelly Donohue (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) and Veronika Wojakowska (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer H.S.) at No. 2, while Taynara Moraes and Jessica Kunzelmann beat the BU senior pairing of Kim Braun (Racine, Wis./The Prairie School) and Erin Krubeck (Boulder, Colo./Fairview H.S.) at No. 3.
In singles play, the Panthers didn't drop a set on their way to six wins. Walker topped Miller at the top singles spot in the lineup by a score of 6-2, 6-4, while Gonzalez-Garrido stopped Wojakowska at No. 2, 6-2, 6-3. Kanade turned aside Regenold for a victory at No. 3, 6-2, 6-1, followed by a 6-3,6-1 win at No. 4 for Kunzelmann over Donohue. Moraes beat Krubeck at No. 5, 6-2, 6-4 and Mendez downed Braun at No. 6, 6-1, 6-3.
Sunday's match marked the final home match for Bradley seniors Braun and Krubeck. With two regular season matches and the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships remaining on the schedule, Braun and Krubeck remain tied with 81 career combined wins to rank 11th all-time in Bradley history. Both players have 44 career doubles wins to tie for sixth-most all-time in BU history and 37 singles wins to tie for 16th-most at Bradley.
Bradley will resume play on the road on Friday, April 17 with a 1 p.m. match at Evansville.