Bradley University Athletics

Tennis Advances to MVC Semis with 4-0 Sweep at UNI

Freshmen Bozana Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz secured the doubles point with a tiebreak win and each won their singles matches in their postseason debut

Match Results (PDF)

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 4/26/2019 7:57:00 PM

Box Score CEDAR FALLS, IA – Playing in their first-ever postseason match, Bradley's freshman combo of Bozana Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz set the tone for the third-seeded Braves (16-7), who rolled to a 4-0 win against host and No. 6 seed Northern Iowa (4-9) in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship Friday evening at UNI Tennis Complex.

With its third quarterfinals win in four years, Bradley advances to Saturday's 2 p.m. semifinal for a rematch against regular-season league champion Illinois State. Although the teams met March 30 in The Valley's opening conference match, Illinois State's 4-3 win at Bradley proved to be the deciding match in the regular-season championship race. The Redbirds went 5-0 in conference play, followed by the 4-1 Braves in the MVC standings.

Five days after UNI earned the doubles point in the regular-season finale against the Braves at the David Markin Tennis Courts, Bradley used a tie-break victory by its freshman pairing to earn the doubles point Friday. After Natalia Barbery and Sandra Maletin took a 6-3 decision at No. 1 Doubles to pull the Braves even in the doubles round, Lojpur and Perlwitz fought for a 7-6 win at No. 2 Doubles.

The freshmen then quickly pushed Bradley's lead to 3-0, beginning with Lojpur's 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 Singles. Perlwitz followed a few minutes later with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 6 Singles for a 3-0 Bradley lead. Maletin then delivered the clinching point with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 Singles.

Lojpur improved her overall singles record to 24-11, breaking a 3-way tie with Malini Wijesinghe (2015-16) and Aimee Manfredo (2014-15) to set the program record for singles wins by a freshman. By adding her doubles victory with Perlwitz, Lojpur also moved her combined total to 42 singles and doubles wins this year to match the program's freshman record set by Alexa Brandt in 204-15.

Maletin, who improved to a team-best 24-7 overall in singles play, earned her 16th win of the year at No. 1 Singles, to match the program-record for wins in the top spot in the playing order set by Ariel Dechter in 2015-16.

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