EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Freshman Alexa Brandt rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles, but third-seeded Northern Iowa (16-6) earned a 5-1 win against sixth-seeded Bradley (11-13) in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship Thursday afternoon at Wesselman Park.
The Panthers closed out the match when Gisela Kemper closed out a 6-1, 6-3 win against Cassia Wojtalik at No. 5 singles. UNI took both the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles matches to earn the day's first point. The Panthers went up 2-0 when Sydney Wolfe downed Carly Miles (6-1, 6-3) at No. 6 singles.
Bradley got on the board with Brandt's win at No. 2 singles, but the Panthers reclaimed control when Jieke Stroobant cruised in with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Aimee Manfredo at No. 3 singles.
After Ariel Dechter won her first set at No. 1 singles against 2015 MVC Player of the Year Erica Medlin, 6-3, the Braves still had hopes for a rally as Wojtalik and Thai took early leads in their respective second sets. When the Panthers rallied in both of those matches, however, Dechter's No. 1 singles match with Medlin was halted.