The women’s tennis team closed its fall season at the Boylan Tennis Center in Rockford where the ITA Regionals took place this past weekend.
Bradley was well represented by sophomore Alejandra de Lasa, juniors Ariel Dechter and Ashley Thai and senior Irinka Toidze. The pair of doubles played two rounds in as many flights and played one round of singles action in three flights, leaving them with a combined record of 2-1. The Braves were able to gain a total of eight wins to start off the ITA Regional 2 tournament Friday.
The Braves sparked on the second day, with Dechter having a 3-0 combined day after playing in singles and doubles. Dechter and Toidze earned the win against Northern Illinois. Although they improved, this was the only win in the four third-round doubles matches Saturday.
Sunday, Dechter was one of the five Braves to finish the final tournament of the fall season with a victory. Freshman Malini Wijesinghe and Thai ended on a positive note with a win in the B-Flight Singles and a 3-1 record. Toidze prevailed in a singles match against Northern Illinois, while freshman Julie Martin won against Green Bay. They finished with a 2-2 records in C-Flight.
Bradley’s team had impressive records set and broken after this season. Thai managed to make Bradley’s career singles victories Top 10 list in ninth place with her 44 career wins.
Additionally, Dechter dominated the weekend without showing any signs of mercy for her opponents, ending the tournament with a 4-0 singles record in A Flight Singles and tying in second place for a Bradley record with Cindy Schneider (1984-88).
Dechter was swift and always one step ahead of her opponent the entire weekend. She showed her greater knowledge of the sport, which is reflected on the court and in the match scores.
The Braves concluded their season with a 19-12 for singles and a 6-10 for doubles record at the ITA Regional 2, which concluded a productive fall season for the women. The tennis team will not play again until the opening of the next season Jan. 23 held in Missouri.
