In the final weekend of regular season play, Bradley tennis split their two matches against Wichita State and Missouri State, leaving them with an overall record of 11-13 and 2-5 in conference.
The Braves did not get off to a good start as they were profoundly beaten in their Saturday afternoon match, suffering a 7-0 sweep to the Shockers. Just as they seemingly have been able to do all year, though, Bradley bounced back to earn a 5-2 victory over Missouri State the next day.
In Sunday’s match against the Bears, Bradley picked up the doubles point by winning at both Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. Freshman Natalia Barbery and senior Ashley Thai combined for a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles, while senior Ariel Dechter teamed with junior Aimee Manfredo for a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles.
Dechter, Barbery and Thai all added straight-sets wins in singles play to secure the team victory. Sophomore Malini Wijesinghe added the fifth point by rallying for a 3-set win at No. 4 singles 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-4.
Head coach Matt Tyler said he thought the team did a good job of moving on from the difficult loss to Wichita State and didn’t let it affect them against the Bears.
“I was really proud of the performance on Sunday,” Tyler said. “I thought that playing a team like Wichita State was a great warm-up for us and let us work out some kinks. I don’t think we played our best tennis on Saturday, but we worked through it and came out and performed amazingly well against Missouri State, so I was happy with the way things went.”
Bradley’s 2-5 conference record slots them as the six seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championship. This means the Braves will face off against tournament-host Illinois State, in a first round matchup. The last time Bradley played the Redbirds earlier this month, the Braves were defeated 2-5 in a competitive match.
Tyler needed only two words to describe his anticipation level for getting another shot at taking on their I-74 rival: “Can’t wait.”
“It’ll be a lot of fun and the team’s fired up about it,” Tyler said. “I think it’s definitely one of the main matches we would want to do over again or want another shot at, so to be able to play them in the first round is huge for us.”
Tyler’s eagerness and confidence is matched by Barbery, who said she believes she is playing her best tennis of the season heading into the team championship.
“I think I’m playing my best tennis right now,” Barbery said. “I’ve made a few adjustments with coach, and I think that’s helped me to peak my performance in the last few matches, so I’m pretty confident in my game right now and confident for the weekend.”
Tyler said he is not changing his goal for the team heading into the team championship, which has remained the same all season long: to have a good attitude and to play well.
“The goal all season long has been to just play well,” Tyler said. “We talk a lot about focusing on processes and not outcomes, and that’s the same kind of thing we’ll do for the weekend, too. Just trying to get better day in and day out and point by point, for that matter. If we can do that, I like our chances against anyone we play.”
Bradley will kick off the MVC team championship against Illinois State at 3 p.m. Friday.
