Tennis Beats Drake, 6-1, Makes Program History

The Braves beat Drake for the first time in program history, while matching the program record for overall and MVC dual match wins

Results (PDF)

Match Recap: Women's Tennis | 4/20/2019 2:52:00 PM | Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications

PEORIA, IL – Bradley Tennis continues to re-write its record book and added a new chapter Saturday by earning its first-ever win against Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake, a 6-1 triumph at the David Markin Tennis Courts.

In a series that dates back to 1984-85, Bradley (14-7, 3-1 MVC) had lost all 25 dual matches to the Bulldogs (8-14, 2-2 MVC) entering Saturday's match, but cruised to Saturday's victory by following up the doubles point with wins in each of the first three singles matches to finish. Bradley also matched the program record with its 14th dual match win of the year and secured just its first winning MVC record for just the second time (also 3-2 in 1992-93) in program history.

With a 6-2 win at No. 2 Doubles already in the books, Drake was on the verge of claiming the doubles point as the No. 3 team of Kelsey Neville and Megan Webb built a 5-3 lead against the Bradley pairing of Lindsay Haight and Malini Wijesinghe. The pair of Bradley seniors fought off three match points, however, and won the final four games. They finished off their 7-5 win just as the No. 1 pairing of Natalia Barbery and Sandra Maletin completed a tie-break victory, suddenly giving the Braves a 1-0 lead in the team score.

With the momentum of the doubles finish working, Bradley quickly secured the team victory by winning the first three singles matches to finish. Freshman Bozana Lojpur cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 2 Singles, while sophomore Nina Marjanovic added a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 5 Singles for a 3-0 Braves lead. Maletin delivered the clinching point by taking a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win at No. 1 Singles.

While Drake got on the board with Sophia Haleas' win at No. 3 Singles, the Braves completed the 6-1 victory when freshman Nikki Perlwitz was credited with a victory at No. 6 Singles after her opponent retired in the second set and Barbery took a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 4 Singles.

Bradley previously won 14 dual matches in 1986-87 and 1992-93, both with 14-7 records that included multiple wins against lower division teams. Bradley's 14-7 record to date this season is the first built entirely against NCAA Division I opposition. The Braves will take a 3-1 league record into Sunday's regular-season finale versus UNI knowing they will finish the season with a winning conference record for just the third time in program history. The 1991-92 squad finished 4-2 in Gateway Conference play, while the 1992-93 Braves went 3-2 in the first year of Valley completion.

Individually, Barbery and Lojpur both improved to 4-0 in league play to equal the program record for MVC singles wins in a season. Lojpur also broke her tie with Ariel Dechter for the most-ever wins (15) by a Bradley player at the No. 2 position in the singles playing order.

Sunday's match against UNI is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start with Haight and Wijesinghe to be honored in a pre-match senior ceremony. Admission is free for all Bradley Tennis regular-season home matches.

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