Braves Dominate Saturday at MVC Individuals

Bradley's seven players completed the second day of action at the 2018 MVC Individual Championships with a 6-2 record, sending two players to their respective flight finals

Sandra Maletin 2018 MVC Individual Championships

Championship Central

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 10/6/2018 2:51:00 PM

SPRINGFIELD, MO – Bradley will play for two flight titles after coming away with a pair of semifinal victories during the second day of the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Individual Championships Saturday at the Cooper Tennis Complex.

Bradley's seven players combined for a 6-1 singles record Saturday, highlighted by championship semifinal victories from sophomore Sandra Maletin in Flight 1 Singles and freshman Nikki Perlwitz in Flight 5 Singles against their respective flight's top seed from Drake. Maletin took down Drake's Carmen Palumbo 6-1 and 7-5 to run her fall singles record to 8-0. Perlwitz improved her season record to 7-1 with a 3-set victory against Drake's Kelsey Neville Saturday.

6-1 in singles Saturday at @MVCsports
Individuals

1️⃣ Sandra Maletin to Flight 1 final
3️⃣ Natalia Barbery 5th place
4️⃣ Malini Wijesinghe 5th place
5️⃣ Nikki Perlwitz to Flight 5 final
6️⃣ Victoria Gonzalez 5th place
7️⃣ Kinga Kovacs 5th place

📰➡️ https://t.co/18Fje9MuWF pic.twitter.com/CX3zKllY0G
— Bradley Tennis (@BradleyUTennis) October 6, 2018

Bradley has won only two individual singles conference championships in program history - Cindy Schneider in Flight 3 during the 1986 Gateway Conference Championship and Aimee Manfredo in Flight 5 Singles at the 2015 MVC Individual Championships. Maletin will face Valparaiso's Jelena Vujanic in Sunday's Flight 1 Singles championship match. Both players were All-Select picks for the 2018 All-Missouri Valley Conference squad. Perlwitz will take on Missouri State's Clara Gandara Gonzalez in Sunday's Flight 5 Singles championship match.

The semifinal wins by Maletin and Perlwitz headlined a banner day overall for the Braves, who ran their record at the 2018 MVC Individuals to 13-8 in the 10 flights of singles and doubles competition. The Braves won all four of their fifth-place matches Saturday, giving each of those four players at least a .500 record at the tournament.

Junior Natalia Barbery, who received a consolation draw bye Friday, took fifth in Flight 3 Singles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory Saturday against Valparaiso's Meg Modesto to finish with a 1-1 record in the flight. Senior Malini Wijesinghe rallied for a 3-set win in the Flight 4 Singles Fifth-Place match, a 3-6, 6-0, 10-1 decision against UNI's Kate Merrick. Sophomore Victoria Gonzalez also went three sets for her fifth-place victory in Flight 6 Singles, a 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 win against Stony Brook's Anastasia Koniaev, while sophomore Kinga Kovacs continued her impressive fall season with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Missouri State's Alexia Meyer in the Flight 7 Singles Fifth-Place match. Wijesinghe, Gonzalez and Kovacs all completed their flight competition with 2-1 records.

The final day of play at the 2018 MVC Women's Tennis Individual Championships will begin at 9 o'clock Sunday morning at the Cooper Tennis Complex.

2018 MVC WOMEN'S TENNIS INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS | BRADLEY RESULTS SATURDAY
Flight 2 Doubles Semifinal: Bekirova/Ribeiro (SB) def. Lojpur/Wijesinghe (BU) 6-4

Flight 1 Singles Semifinal: Sandra Maletin (BU) def. Carmen Palumbo (DU) 6-1, 7-5
Flight 2 Singles Seminfal: Maria Ribeiro (SB) def. Bozana Lojpur (BU) 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3
Flight 3 Singles 5th Place: Natalia Barbery (BU) def. Meg Modesto (VU) 6-3, 6-1
Flight 4 Singles 5th Place: Malini Wijesinghe (BU) def. Kate Merrick (UNI) 3-6, 6-0, 10-1
Flight 5 Singles Semifinal: Nikki Perlwitz (BU) def. Kelsey Neville (DU) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Flight 6 Singles 5th Place: Victoria Gonzalez (BU) def. Anastasia Koniaev (SB) 6-3, 2-6, 10-7
Flight 7 Singles 5th Place: Kinga Kovacs (BU) def. Alexia Meyer (MSU) 6-1, 6-0

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