PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Tennis hosts a pair of matches this weekend at Parkside Fitness, welcoming Western Illinois on Friday, Feb. 6, and St. Thomas on Sunday, Feb. 8.

MATCH INFORMATION – HOME VS WESTERN ILLINOIS
Where: Parkside Fitness - Pekin, Ill.
When: Friday, February 6 - 12:00 p.m.
Live Scoring: iOnSport

MATCH INFORMATION – HOME VS ST. THOMAS
Where: Parkside Fitness - Pekin, Ill.
When: Sunday, February 8 - 10:00 a.m.
Live Scoring: iOnSport

PREVIEWING THE LEATHERNECKS
The Western Illinois Leathernecks enter the weekend with a 2-3 record on the season. Western Illinois dropped its first three matches of the season, but is coming off back-to-back road victories against Chicago State and Valparaiso.

Friday's match will mark the 49th all-time meeting between the two programs, and the Braves hold a 25-23 advantage in the series. The Braves – who defeated Western Illinois in Macomb, 4-3 – have won 15 consecutive matches against Western Illinois and are 22-1 in their last 23 meetings against the Leathernecks, dating back to the 2003-04 season. Bradley is 19-9 at home all-time and 2-0 at Parkside Fitness against WIU.

The Leathernecks retained a majority of their roster, bringing back seven athletes from last season's roster. Their most notable returner is sophomore Mana Fawcett, who is 9-3 in singles action this season and has won two Singles Player of the Week awards in the Ohio Valley Conference.

PREVIEWING THE TOMMIES
The St. Thomas Tommies are 0-1 on the season, with their only match being a 6-1 loss at Iowa State on Feb. 1. St. Thomas will face Western Illinois on Saturday at Parkside Fitness before squaring off against the Braves on Sunday morning.

Sunday's match will be the fourth meeting all-time between the programs. St. Thomas holds a 2-1 edge in the series, winning the last two meetings on a neutral site – a 4-2 victory in Chicago and a 4-0 victory in Milwaukee. Bradley's lone victory in the series came in 2023, when the Braves won 4-3 on the road. This is the first meeting between the two sides in Peoria/Pekin.

Freshman Emilia Korseth picked up the lone victory for St. Thomas against Iowa State, winning on court two; 6-3, 6-2. Korseth and Caroline Lindahl are tied for the team lead in singles wins this season with four.

LAST TIME OUT
The Braves split the weekend in Springfield, Mo., picking up their first win of the season at Missouri State on Friday, Jan. 30, winning 4-2, and falling to South Dakota on Jan. 31, 4-3. Ruby Tseng picked up a pair of singles wins, while Valeriia Ivanovskaia won her lone singles match that finished. Ruby Tseng and Anna Belogliadova each picked up singles wins, while Amber Sharp won her first collegiate match. Doubles wins by pairings of Ann Hsieh and Mariia Pukhina and Compassion Tsai and Ruby Tseng helped the Braves earn the decisive doubles point against Missouri State.

COMING UP...
Bradley travels to Edwardsville, Ill., for a road match against SIU Edwardsville on Friday, Feb. 13, at 2:30 p.m.