Bradley Tennis Nets Seven MVC Postsesaon Awards

Bradley's record-setting season was recognized Thursday night when five Braves combined to collect seven postseason awards

2019 MVC All-Conference Release

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 4/25/2019 7:30:00 PM

CEDAR FALLS, IA – In the first 26 years of Missouri Valley Conference sponsorship of women's tennis, Bradley Tennis collected three all-conference awards, all by Ariel Dechter in 2015, 2016 and 2017 with MVC All-Select designations. During Thursday night's MVC Women's Tennis awards banquet, five Braves combined to receive seven awards, including the first four All-MVC first team recognitions in program history, according to a vote of the league's head coaches.

Freshman Bozana Lojpur was chosen the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year and named the All-MVC first-team player at No. 2 Singles. Junior Natalia Barbery earned All-MVC first team at No. 4 Singles and teamed with sophomore Sandra Maletin on the All-MVC No. 1 Doubles pairing. Senior Malini Wijesinghe joined Maletin as members of the MVC All-Select Team and paired with senior Lindsay Haight for the All-MVC No. 3 Doubles team.

Led by Bradley's six all-conference honorees, the Braves (15-7, 4-1 MVC) will take the No. 3 seed in to this weekend's Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Team Championship. Bradley will open tournament play by facing No. 6 seed and tournament host UNI in Friday's 5 p.m. quarterfinal at the UNI Tennis Complex.

Natalia Barbery, Jr., Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Evert Tennis Academy)
Barbery technically became the first-ever Bradley Tennis player to post an undefeated MVC singles record when she finished her victory Sunday at No. 4 Singles to complete a 5-0 Valley season. She currently sits a 21-7 overall in singles competition, including a 12-3 record in the No. 4 position during the dual match season. Barbery's .750 overall winning percentage currently is tied for the eighth-best single-season winning percentage in Bradley history and her 12 wins at No. 4 are tied with Teri Chan's 2005 total for the most-ever at that spot in the playing order.

Barbery also teamed with Maletin for a 4-1 Valley record at No. 1 Doubles, giving her a program-best 9-1 combined MVC record in 2019.

Lindsay Haight, Sr., Overland Park, KS (Blue Valley Northwest H.S.)
After spending the past year-and-a-half focused on her nursing studies, Haight returned to the Bradley Tennis program during the winter break between semesters and immediately stepped onto the court for the team's first dual match of the season. She ended up pairing with Wijesinghe just prior to the start of the conference season and the duo posted a 3-2 Valley record in the No. 3 Doubles position. Haight was 7-5 overall in doubles competition this spring, including a 7-4 record at No. 3 Doubles.

Bozana Lojpur, Fr., Burnaby, British Columbia (Burnaby Mountain Secondary)
Lojpur joins Ariel Dechter (2014) as the second Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in program history and she quickly followed Barbery Sunday as the second player to complete an undefeated MVC singles season by going 5-0 at No. 2 Singles. At 23-11 overall in singles competition, Lopur shares the team lead with 23 wins, equaling the school record for singles wins by a freshman. Her 16 wins at No. 2 Singles are the school season record in that position in the order and she has become the fourth player in program history to total 40 combines singles and doubles (17) wins in a season.

Sandra Maletin, So., Belgrade Serbia
Maletin joins Ariel Dechter (2015-16-17) as the only players in program history to earn multiple all-conference awards as she becomes a repeat choice for the MVC All-Select Team. Holding down Bradley's No. 1 Singles position for the second consecutive year, Maletin is 23-7 overall and 15-5 at No. 1 Singles, including a 4-1 league record. Her .767 winning percentage ranks as the sixth-best season percentage in program history and is the best by any Bradley player since 1992-93. She needs one more victory to match Dechter's school-record 16 wins at No. 1 Singles in 2015-16.

Malini Wijesinghe, Sr., Appley Valley, MN (Apple Valley H.S.)
Wijesinghe earned MVC All-Select honors after posting a 20-10 overall singles record that included a 14-4 mark at the No. 3 Singles position and a 3-2 league record. Her 20 victories are the most-ever by a Bradley senior and her 14 wins at No. 3 are the most by a Bradley player at the position. Wijesinghe teamed with Lojpur for the first half of the dual match season and the pairing earned MVC Doubles Team of the Week Feb. 5 and Feb. 26, before connecting with Haight for their all-conference pairing at No. 3 Doubles. Wijesinghe will finish her career second in Bradley history in career singles (75) and combined (132) victories with a chance to reach second in career doubles (57) wins, based on the team's performance in this weekend's Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Team Championship.

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