The women’s tennis team wrapped up February with a weekend split against Omaha and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Bradley cruised to their third straight sweep, knocking off Omaha 7-0. The team had it’s winning streak halted on Saturday as they lost to UMKC, 4-3.
“We lost to Omaha 4-3 last year, so playing a great match and earning the 7-0 was fantastic,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “On the other hand, UMKC is a great team. I was happy with our performance even though we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
With a win on Friday, sophomore Ariel Dechter became the first player in Bradley’s women’s tennis history to win 20 singles matches in a season. She improved to 20-7 on the season, breaking Teri Chan’s previous record of 19 singles victories. Chan won 19 matches for the Braves each season from 2005-2007.
However, one of Dechter’s records could fall this season. Freshman Amy Manfredo tied Dechter’s 2014 school record for singles wins by a freshman when she notched her 18th win of the season.
“Ariel is off to a great start,” Tyler said. “She has 12 matches to go, and I expect her to win a lot of these matches left. Ashley Thai and Alexa Brandt are on pace to break the singles wins record as well. They have all put in the work and are very deserving.”
UMKC ended the Braves’ small winning streak on Saturday, but Dechter completed a perfect weekend by pulling out a 3-set singles victory and teaming with Irinka Toidze for a 6-3 doubles win.
Looking ahead, the Braves are at home this weekend as they take on Chicago State Friday and Indiana University-Purdue Ft. Wayne Saturday.
“We have two tough matches ahead of us,” Tyler said. “Chicago State is a good team who will be hungry for wins, and historically, IPFW has beat up on us. We’ll be looking to break the mold.”
As for Tyler’s view on the season up to this point, he has been quite pleased.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “The girls are working really hard; they have great team chemistry. I expect big things going forward.”
Today’s match against Chicago State starts at noon, and the match against IPFW on Saturday will begin at 1:00 p.m. Both matches will be at the Clubs of River City in Peoria.
