BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Bradley women's tennis team opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7-0 setback at rival Illinois State Friday afternoon. The Redbirds took all nine matches from the Braves and did not allow a point in 5-of-15 sets.
Illinois State opened the dual by taking all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. At the No. 1 spot, Julia Zubkova/Franziska Steinhardt defeated junior Nicole Miller (Glendale Heights, Ill./Glenbard West H.S.) and senior Emily Regenold (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton H.S.) 8-4, while Natalia Lech/Ariane Maack topped seniors Kelly Donohue (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) and Jessica Buterbaugh (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.) at the No. 2 spot 8-1.
Hannah Esker/Carmen Peters completed the doubles sweep for the Redbirds with a shutout victory over freshmen Kennedy Scott (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) and Brigitte Graf (Double Oak, Texas/Faustina Academy) at the No. 3 spot 8-0.
At No. 1 singles, Aniko Kiss defeated Miller in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Steinhardt topped Regenold at the No. 2 spot 6-1, 6-1, while Lech beat Donohue 6-1, 6-2. Buterbaugh dropped her No. 4 singles match to Maack 6-2, 6-2 and Esker blanked Scott at the No. 5 spot 6-0, 6-0. Illinois State finished a perfect 9-for-9 with a shutout victory at No. 6 singles as Stefanie Youngberg handled Graf 6-0, 6-0.
The Braves (5-8, 0-1 MVC) will return to action Tuesday, March 30 with a 3 p.m. match at Western Illinois.
