The Bradley tennis team welcomed the Illinois State Redbirds to their home Markin courts for the first game of conference play last weekend.
Sophomore Anna Belogliadova and junior Madi Rogers were short 1-6 to start the doubles competition. Sophomore Mariia Pukhina and freshman Ruby Tseng won 4-1 due to an Illinois State match retirement.
Belogliadova lost 3-6 in her first set but returned to win her second set 7-5. Unfortunately for the Braves, she lost her third and final singles set 10-3. Pukhina contributed to points on the board with 6-0 and 6-2 victories.
Rogers didn’t fare as well with a first-set 1-6 loss and a 1-4 loss due to her retiring from the match. Sophomore Compassion Tsai’s match consisted of duplicate 2-6 losses. Tseng fought hard in two close sets to earn a 7-6 victory.
The final score for the competition was Illinois State’s 5-2 victory. Bradley will look to diagnose what is causing its shortcomings before future competitions.
The Braves will stay in Peoria for their next competition against Drake and Northern Iowa. Their match with the Bulldogs kicks off on Saturday, and Bradley will welcome the Panthers to the Markin Courts on Sunday.
