WATERLOO, IA – Each of Bradley's seven players earned at least one win and the Braves advanced to the semifinal round in six flights to highlight the first day of action at the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships Friday at Byrnes Park Tennis Center.
 
Junior Sandra Maletin and sophomore Nikki Perlwitz both continued their undefeated starts in singles action and joined sophomore Bozana Lojpur in the singles semifinals, while all three of Bradley's doubles teams earned quarterfinals wins Friday.  Bradley's seven combined wins Friday equaled the most of any of the league's seven teams during the first day of action.
 
The No. 2 seed in Flight 1 Doubles, senior Natalia Barbery and Maletin got the day started off on the right foot by rolling to an 8-2 win against Valparaiso's Claire Czerwonka/Isabella Schoolcraft in Friday's quarterfinals.  Bradley's other two doubles teams outlasted their opponents in tiebreakers:  Lojpur/Perlwitz in Flight 2 Doubles against UNI's Caro/Doherty, 8-7 (2); while junior Nina Marjanovic teamed with freshman Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti for an 8-7 (8) win against Drake's Neville/Tatarnikova tandem in Flight 3 Doubles.
 
The No. 2 seed in Flight 1 Singles, Maletin ran her fall record to 6-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Czerwonka.  Lojpur was credited with the victory in the first I-74 Rivalry matchup of the weekend, advancing to the semifinals in Flight 2 Singles after Illinois State's Jelena Vujicic retired in the second set.  Lojpur won the first set 6-2 and held a 3-2 lead in the second when Vujicic retired.
 
Perlwitz joined Maletin in the 6-0 club by breezing to a 6-1, 6-1 win against UNI's Madeline Doherty in the Flight 5 Singles quarterfinals Friday.  Junior Kinga Kovacs earned Bradley's seventh win of the day by blanking Valparaiso's Lia Boucek 6-0, 6-0 in a Flight 7 Singles first-round match.
 
Barbery, who is recovering from an injury suffered in the Bradley Invitational two weeks ago, dropped a 6-4, 7-6 (1) decision to Missouri State's Ellie Burger in Flight 3 Singles.  Sanchez Bronzetti (Flight 4) and Marjanovic (Flight 6) both fell in three sets in their respective quarterfinal matches, while Kovacs split her day by dropping a straight-sets decision to top-seeded Nolwenn Cardosa of Stony Brook in the Flight 7 quarterfinals.
 
The 2019 MVC Individual Championships will continue with semifinal action starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and the championship round is slated for Sunday at Byrnes Park Tennis Center.

2019 MVC Women's Tennis Individual Championships
Saturday Matchups
Flight 1 Doubles Semifinal:  Barbery/Maletin (BU) vs. Burger/Darter (MSU)
Flight 2 Doubles Semifinal:  Lojpur/Perlwitz (BU) vs. Lomas/Palumbo (DU)
Flight 3 Doubles Semifinal:  Marjanovic/Sanchez Bronzetti (BU) vs. Jankulovska/Mihaleva (ISU)
Flight 1 Singles Semifinal:  Sandra Maletin (BU) vs. Tara Damnjanovic (ISU)
Flight 2 Singles Semifinal:  Bozana Lojpur (BU) vs. Maria Ribeiro (SB)
Flight 3 Singles Consolation Semifinal:  Natalia Barbery (BU) vs. Amanda Tabanera (VU)
Flight 4 Singles Consolation Semifinal:  Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti (BU) vs. Thaissa Moreira (UNI)
Flight 5 Singles Semifinal:  Nikki Perlwitz (BU) vs. Lizzie Pam (SB)
Flight 6 Singles Consolation 5th Place:  Nina Marjanovic (BU) vs. TBD
Flight 7 Singles Consolation Semifinal:  Kinga Kovacs (BU) vs. Alexia Meyer (MSU)