Bradley University Athletics

Recapping Day 1 of the Bradley Invitational

Led by Sandra Maletin and Natalia Barbery, Bradley's seven players combined for a 7-4 record Friday

Natalia Barbery Serve 2019 Bradley Invitational

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 9/20/2019 9:09:00 PM

PEORIA, IL – The veteran duo of senior Natalia Barbery and junior Sandra Maletin each combined to post 3-0 records as Bradley's seven players finished the first day of the five-team Bradley Invitational with a 7-4 ledger Friday at the David Markin Tennis Courts.

The second day of action Saturday is expected to be played indoors at the Clubs at River City south building due to expected rain in the area. The move indoors also will push the start of Saturday morning's action to 11 o'clock.

Playing in the top singles (Bradley) and doubles (Red) flights, Maletin remained unbeaten on the young season. She cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win against SIU Edwardsville's Lara Tupper in the opening round of singles play, while Barbery also rolled in her opening round of the singles Braves bracket with a 6-1, 6-4 win against SIUE's Melissa Vizcardo. Both Bradley players will play semifinal singles matches in their respective brackets Saturday.

The Barbery/Maletin duo also stood out in doubles play Friday, opening the Red bracket with an 8-3 win against SIUE's Tupper/Vizcardo combo and following with an 8-1 semifinal victory against Western Michigan's Kaitlyn Rogosch/Elizabeth Trupp. The Bradley pairing will face rival Illinois State's tandem of Tara Damnjanovic/Jelena Karla Vujicic in the Doubles Red championship match Saturday.

Among Bradley's other winners Friday: sophomore Nikki Perlwitz and junior Nina Marjanovic both advanced to the semifinals in the Singles Red bracket with 3-set wins. Perlwitz delivered a 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 win against SIUE's Maria Thibault, while Marjanovic rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win against Alana Bourgeois of Saint Louis.

While Marjanovic and freshman Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti received a bye into the semifinals of the Doubles White bracket, Perlwitz teamed with Lojpur to bounce back from a first-round loss for an 8-5 win against the SIUE combo of Lambrechts/Reinicke in the Doubles Red consolation semifinals.

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