Even though it’s been almost two weeks since they’ve been on a court, the Bradley women’s tennis team is prepping for conference play when they face Northern Iowa April 3.
The last time the team saw in game action was in Louisiana, when they took on Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), Southern University and New Orleans University.
While the team snagged a win against Southern, they dropped their matches against SLU and New Orleans.
“The girls played really well,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “It was great to be outside, getting used to the elements and the things that we’ll have to deal with during conference play.”
The first match that the Braves played was against SLU, where sophomore Ariel Dechter and freshman Aimee Manfredo both picked up points, but fell to the Lions 5-2.
When the Braves played Southern the next day, Tyler and the team busted out their rally caps as Dechter, Manfredo and senior Liz Przystawski all bounced back to record points for the Braves, as Manfredo’s point won the match 4-3.
Although the Braves rallied for a win against Southern, they did not have the same luck against New Orleans, as senior Cassia Wojtalik earned the only point for the Braves in their loss to the Privateers.
Wojtalik won her extended three-set match at the fifth singles positionin the loss to to New Orleans 6-1 to place their record at 9-7 going into conference play.
That 9-7 record is the first time the Braves have had a winning record heading into conference play since they posted 8-5 record in the 2008-2009 season.
Following the loss to New Orleans, the Braves got a much needed week off for spring break, which helped heal some injuries that, according to Tyler, nagged Bradley in Louisiana.
Junior Irinka Toidze suffered a torn labrum, which kept her out of the series of games in Louisiana.
Tyler said that Toidze’s injury also has made a significant change to the Braves’ gameday lineup.
“[Toidze’s] been playing our four and five positions, so girls have to slide up,” Tyler said. “It also changes around our doubles team, so it’s a bit of an adjustment.”
Tyler said that Toidze’s injury is one that’s day-to-day, and he hopes she gets to play in the conference matches, which are matches that Tyler calls the “most important.”
“Our goal for the whole non-conference season is to prepare for these matches that we have coming up,” Tyler said. “They’re obviously heightened emotions, and people, myself included, put maybe more pressure on themselves for some of these matches.”
The Braves open up their conference schedule against UNI at the David Markin Tennis Courts and then remain home to play Drake on April 4.
“If we play the kind of tennis I know we’re capable of playing, then I’m really optimistic about how things will go,” Tyler said.
