While the men’s tennis team took the weekend off to prepare for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, the women’s team wrapped up the regular season with a pair of matchups at the David Markin Tennis Courts.
On April 18, the team took on a Southern Illinois team looking to stay in the MVC race. The Salukis beat the Braves, sweeping all seven points in the process.
The closest Bradley was to winning any point Friday came from freshman Ariel Dechter, who won the first set of her match. She couldn’t hold the lead and lost in the third set tiebreaker 15-13.
Bradley faced the Evansville Purple Aces in the regular season finale. The game was also the final home game for seniors Adele Henke, Meredith McDonagh and Sarah Rodefeld.
They didn’t go out on a winning note, as the Braves fell to Evansville 5-2. However, Dechter won her match 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 for her first career MVC win.
She wasn’t the only Brave to reach that milestone. Fellow freshman Ashley Thai took her match 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, earning her first-ever MVC win.
The women’s team got a bit of recruiting news recently as well. The team announced Irinka Toidze will transfer to Bradley from West Virginia.
Toidze, a sophomore, was ranked in the top five players in her native Georgia throughout her tennis career. She primarily played at 5th and 6th singles for the Mountaineers.
Both Bradley tennis teams will be in action at the MVC tournament this weekend. The men’s team will face number four seed Illinois State in the quarterfinals Friday, while the women’s team squares off against number two Southern Illinois that same day.
