WATERLOO, Iowa - Bradley's two freshmen, Alexa Brandt and Aimee Manfredo, will play for bracket championships Sunday after each went 2-0 in singles play during the second day of the UNI Invitational Saturday at Byrnes Park.
Brandt knocked off a pair of Missouri Valley Conference rivals to reach the Gold bracket championship, while Manfredo kept the unbeaten start to her college career intact by knocking off teammate Ashley Thai in the Purple bracket semifinals.
During two rounds of singles play in three brackets Saturday, Bradley's seven players combined for an 8-6 record, including Manfredo's win against Thai. Notably, Bradley went 4-3 in matches against Valley rivals Northern Iowa and Illinois State.
Brandt will face UNI's Elvira Lopez in Sunday's Gold bracket championship and Manfredo will take on the host school's Gisela Kemper in the Purple bracket championship.
Sophomore Ariel Dechter rebounded from a 3-set loss in Saturday's Gold quarterfinal round with a 3-set win against Illinois State's Donna Haycock. Dechter will face South Dakota's Dragana Brankovic in Sunday's Gold bracket fifth-place match.
Junior Irinka Toidze suffered a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Kemper in the Purple quarterfinal, but bounced back with a 6-2, 7-5 win against South Dakota's Sanjana Bidarkal. Toidze will face Illinois State's Cricket Gelderman in Sunday's Purple bracket fifth-place match.
Thai started her day with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Gelderman and after her 7-5, 6-4 loss to Manfredo, the Bradley sophomore will face Illinois State's Valerija Gercar in Sunday's Purple bracket third-place match.
Seniors Elizabeth Przystawski and Cassia Wojtalik both dropped their quarterfinal matches in the Panther bracket Saturday, but both recovered with straight-sets wins against opponents from St. Catherine to set up an all-Bradley matchup in Sunday's Panther bracket fifth-place match.
The UNI Invitational will conclude Sunday with the final round of play in both singles and doubles at Byrnes Park.
UNI Invitational
Sep 26-28, 2014 at Waterloo, Iowa (Byrnes Park)
| Singles competition |
| G QF |
Maslova, Rymma (South Dakota) def. Dechter, Ariel (Bradley) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) |
| G QF |
Brandt, Alexa (Bradley) def. Santos, Astrid (Northern Iowa) 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6) |
| Pu QF |
Kemper, Gisela (Northern Iowa) def. Toidze, Irinka (Bradley) 6-4, 6-3 |
| Pu QF |
Thai, Ashley (Bradley) def. Geldermann, Cricket (Illinois State) 6-3, 6-3 |
| Pu QF |
Manfredo, Aimee (Bradley) def. Wallace, Jenna (Western Illinois) 6-0, 6-1 |
| Pa QF |
Scudiero, Chanel (Illinois State) def. Wojtalik, Cassia (Bradley) 6-1, 6-2 |
| Pa QF |
Wolfe, Sydney (Northern Iowa) def. Przystawski, Liz (Bradley) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (11-9) |
| G 3rd |
Dechter, Ariel (Bradley) def. Haycock, Donna (Illinois State) 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7) |
| G SF |
Brandt, Alexa (Bradley) def. Ilves, Kadi (Illinois State) 6-4, 6-2 |
| Pu 3rd |
Toidze, Irinka (Bradley) def. Bidarkal, Sanjana (South Dakota) 6-2, 7-5 |
| Pu SF |
Manfredo, Aimee (Bradley) def. Thai, Ashley (Bradley) 7-5, 6-4 |
| Pa 3rd |
Wojtalik, Cassia (Bradley) def. Mone, Emily (St. Catherine) 6-4, 6-4 |
| Pa 3rd |
Przystawski, Liz (Bradley) def. Knoll, Alicia (St. Catherine) 6-1, 6-0 |
