Bradley University Athletics

Tennis Pulls Off Second MVC Awards Sweep

Sophomore Sandra Maletin is the MVC Singles Player of the Week, Bozana Lojpur and Malini Wijesinghe Named Doubles Team of the Week

MVC Notebook (Feb. 26)

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 2/26/2019 3:05:00 PM

ST. LOUIS – For the second time this season, Bradley Tennis has completed a sweep of the two Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards. Sophomore Sandra Maletin (Belgrade, Serbia) has been selected the MVC Singles Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks, while the No. 2 Doubles tandem of freshman Bozana Lojpur (Burnaby, B.C./Burnaby Mountain Secondary) and senior Malini Wijesinghe (Apple Valley, MN/Apple Valley H.S.) also claimed the MVC Doubles Team of the Week for a second time this year.

Bradley (8-2) has claimed at least one of the two weekly awards for a fourth consecutive week and now boasts seven MVC awards this year:

Bradley Tennis 2019 MVC Weekly Awards
Jan. 22: Bozana Lojpur Singles Player of the Week
Feb. 5: Natalia Barbery Singles Player of the Week
Feb. 5: Bozana Lojpur/Malini Wijesinghe Doubles Team of the Week
Feb. 12: Sandra Maletin Singles Player of the Week
Feb. 19: Bozana Lojpur Singles Player of the Week
Feb. 26: Sandra Maletin Singles Player of the Week
Feb. 26: Bozana Lojpur/Malini Wijesinghe Doubles Team of the Week

Maletin's availability for Bradley's weekend matches versus Western Illinois and Chicago State was in doubt due to a bout with the flu. But cleared to play Saturday morning, she rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 victory in her No. 1 Singles position against WIU to give the Braves a 3-0 advantage in their eventual 4-0 victory versus the Leathernecks. In Sunday's dual against Chicago State, Maletin clinched the team victory with her 7-5, 6-2 triumph.

With her two wins, Maletin now stands at 16-3 in singles action this year, including an 8-1 record at No. 1 Singles during the dual match portion of the year. Her eight wins at No. 1 Singles already are tied for the sixth-best total at the position in Bradley Women's Tennis history and they have all come in succession.

Bradley's No. 2 Doubles duo, Lojpur and Maletin helped get the Braves off on the right foot in each of the two weekend wins versus Western Illinois and Chicago State. The combo breezed to a 6-1 win against WIU to clinch the doubles point for the Braves, then battled for a 6-4 victory Sunday against Chicago State, setting the stage for another team doubles point.

The Lojpur/Wijesinghe team improved to 13-6 on the year, including a 7-2 record in the No. 2 position during the dual match season, cracking the school's single-season top 10 for doubles wins by a team and moving up to seventh for wins specifically at the No. 2 Doubles position.

The Braves are off to their best 10-match start versus NCAA Division I competition in the program's 42-year history and will look to keep the momentum going during a pair of road matches this weekend. Bradley will visit Murray State Friday afternoon and Southeast Missouri State Saturday morning. The team's March 7 home match versus Saint Louis will be its last home dual until starting conference play March 30 against I-74 rival Illinois State.

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