Tennis Picked 3rd in MVC, Opens Season Friday

Bradley Tennis was picked third in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, which was released the day before the Braves open the 2020 dual season with a weekend triangular vs IUPUI and Murray State at the Clubs at River City

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 1/23/2020 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, IL – As Bradley Tennis prepares to open the 2020 dual season with weekend home matches versus IUPUI and Murray State, the Braves have been picked third in the annual Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll of coaches.

With six returning players from its record-setting 2019 squad, Bradley checks in behind women's tennis affiliate member Stony Brook and I-74 rival Illinois State in the MVC preseason poll. The Braves posted a program-best 16-8 (.667) overall record last spring and its runner-up finish in Valley regular-season standings with a 4-1 league record also was the best in the program's history.

The Braves followed with a strong fall tournament season with the seven Braves combining for a 40-29 (.580) singles record and 19-10 (.655) doubles ledger. Sophomores Bozana Lojpur (No. 2 Singles) and Nikki Perlwitz (No. 5 Singles) won their respective flight titles at the 2019 MVC Individual Tennis Championships in October, while 2-time MVC All-Select honoree, junior Sandra Maletin, turned in a 16-5 combined singles and doubles record during the fall, which concluded with an automatic entry into the ITA Central Region Championships Singles Main Draw.

WEEKEND TRIANGULAR
Bradley will play host to a trio of dual matches Friday and Saturday at the Clubs at River City. The Braves will open the dual match season at 3 p.m. Friday by taking on IUPUI. The Jaguars will return to the indoor courts at the Clubs at River City to face Murray State Saturday at 9 a.m., and the weekend triangular will conclude when Bradley takes on Murray State at 1 o'clock Saturday afternoon. Admission is free for all Bradley Tennis regular-season home matches.

KNOCKING ON TOP 10 DOORS
Junior Sandra Maletin and senior Natalia Barbery both enter the weekend as part of a four-way tie for 11th in program history, each with 45 career singles wins, just one victory shy of cracking the school's all-time top 10. Cassia Wojtalik currently ranks 10th with 46 singles wins from 2011-15. Barbery, who generally teams with Maletin in the No. 1 Doubles position, also ranks 12th in program history with 44 career doubles wins. She also is one doubles victory from pulling into a tie for 10th in program history on the career doubles wins list: Erin Krubeck and Kim Braun, both 2005-09. Barbery's 89 combined career victories also rank 12th in Bradley history, three shy of Emily Regenold's 92 combined singles and doubles wins from 2006-10.

SERIES HISTORY | IUPUI
Friday's match will be the 15th all-time dual match between the Braves and IUPUI. Bradley has won five straight in the series to pull into a 7-7 tie against the Jaguars. The teams played each year from 2010-17 with the Braves winning six of those seven meetings. While Friday's match will be Bradley's season-opener, the Jaguars are 0-3, including a 6-1 loss to MVC member Valparaiso last Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY | MURRAY STATE
Saturday's match against Murray State will be the eighth in a series dominated by the Racers. Murray State has won five straight against Bradley to build a 6-1 series advantage. The teams are meeting for a third consecutive year and for the second time in three years at the Clubs a River City. Bradley is 0-3 at home against Murray State, which played for a share of the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title on the last day of the season last year.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following the season-opening weekend triangular, Bradley Tennis will hit the road for four straight matches, beginning Jan. 31 at SIU Edwardsville. The Braves will visit Saint Louis Feb. 1, UMKC Feb. 8 and Missouri Feb. 9. After a 4-match home stand Feb. 16-28, Bradley will not return home again until its Valley home opener April 5 against Valparaiso.

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