CHICAGO - Bradley will play for four of a possible six flight championships Sunday, following a full day of action Saturday at Chicago State's Cougar Invitational.

Playing in their first tournament of the fall season, the Braves are guaranteed to win at least one flight championship Sunday as sophomore Aimee Manfredo will take on freshman teammate Malini Wijesinghe in the singles White Flight championship. Manfredo improved to 2-0 in the tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Oakland's Karine Celis in Saturday's flight semifinal round, while Wijesinghe also moved to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Chicago State's Hanne Pangestu.

In one of two matches that put Bradley teammates against each other, sophomore Alejandra de Lasa topped junior Ariel Dechter in a tight, 3-set match in the singles Green Flight semifinals. De Lasa pulled out a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 decision. Dechter will play another teammate in Sunday's third-place match when she faces freshman Emma Sodergren, who dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Bowling Green's Polina Radeva.

On the consolation side of the singles Green Flight, sophomore Alexa Brandt dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Lewis' Nora Mindiyarova and will play in the flight's 7th-place match Sunday. Junior Ashley Thai fared better in her White Flight consolation match, advancing to Sunday's fifth-place matchh with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Lewis Megan Nguyen.

Of the four singles flights, the Black Flight is the only draw that will not have a Brave in the championship match after senior Irinka Toidze dropped a 3-set decision in her semifinal match against Oakland's Tamara Blum. On the consolation side of the Black Flight, freshman Julie Martin came up short in a bid for her first collegiate singles win. After dropping a second-set tie-breaker, Martin lost the third set, 10-6, to Bowling Green's Drew Fillis and will fall into Sunday's 7th-place match.

Freshman Lindsay Haight will play for Bradley's third singles flight championship Sunday after earning a 6-0, 6-4 win in her Grey Flight semifinal match against Oakland's Kayla Stencel.

In Saturday's doubles action, the Bradley pairing of Brandt/Wijesinghe knocked off teammates de Lasa/Thai in the Green Flight consolation semifinal by a 7-6 (3) score. On the right side of the draw, the Bradley tandem of Manfredo/Sodergren fell in the semifinal match, 6-4, to the Chicago State pairing of Gadacz/Pangestu.

In the doubles White Flight, the Bradley duo of Dechter/Toidze advanced to the championship match with a 6-3 win against Oakland's team of Celis/Guevara. The freshman pairing of Haight/Martin lost a 7-5 decision to Lewis' Conlin/Wetmore, then took the draw's 7th-place match by default.

Sunday's final rounds will begin at 9 a.m. at the CSU Tennis Courts.

Bradley Braves Women's Tennis
Sep 11, 2015 -- Chicago State Cougar Invitational

Chicago State Cougar Invitational
Sep 11, 2015 at Chicago, IL

Generated on 9/12/2015