As quickly as the Bradley women’s tennis team suffered a losing streak, it was replaced by one of the winning kind.
Bradley ended their two-game losing skid with a victory against Northern Illinois Universiy on Saturday, and the Braves then notched another win against Valparaiso later that same day.
Throughout the 16-game history between NIU, Bradley was winless but that ended Saturday when Bradley downed the Huskies by a final score of 4-3.
“Belief for us was there, and it was critical,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “Those sort of intangible things, such as belief, oftentimes are the determining factor when it’s a close match, and it certainly was for us this weekend.”
The Braves struggled early as they dropped their first two doubles matches. However, the team rebounded by winning four of the five single matches and claimed the victory.
“To rattle off three wins immediately in the singles was huge because I think that it took the pressure off some of the other girls who were still playing,” Tyler said. “It was an adverse situation being down, [but] we rose to the occasion and got the job done.”
Fresh off the emotional victory against NIU, the women carried that momentum into their match against Valparaiso. Bradley’s dominating play resulted in a 7-0 shutout of the Crusaders, capping the Brave’s successful day.
Tyler praised his team’s stamina, as it steamrolled through its second match in five hours.
“They did a great job of overcoming some tiredness and the emotional drain that comes from winning an emotional match like the previous one,” Tyler said.
Bradley will look to keep the momentum rolling this weekend as the women’s tennis team heads to Indiana to face Butler and IUPUI tomorrow. The next couple of matches will test the team’s stamina again with both contests scheduled for tomorrow. However, Tyler said he is not worried.
“Our coaches, the training room staff, the support we get … I have to give a lot of credit to [all of those people],” he said. “They are the ones behind the scene that make sure that we’re ready to compete.”
The Braves hope to record their third straight victory this weekend and build on their success from this week. With a confident group and strong coaching, the women’s tennis team might just be hitting their stride.
