After being swept by Northern Illinois last Friday, the Bradley tennis team recovered quickly with a 5-2 win against Eastern Illinois the day after.
“We always talk about having short-term memory after a tough loss and trusting in the work we put in and letting that work pay off,” Bradley head coach Matt Tyler said. “I think we did a really good job of that.”
Heading into the EIU match and needing the win, Bradley pulled through as all players used strong solo play to achieve the victory.
“Against Eastern, we bounced back really well, even though we dropped a doubles point which is frustrating, but to lose that point and then come back and win five out of six singles matches was outstanding,” Tyler said.
The Braves fell in the first two doubles matches but the third was left unfinished as the freshman-junior team of Anna Belogliadova and Maria Bezmenova were stopped from completing a close 5-4 set.
In the solos, Bradley showcased its ability to serve and return consistently which contributed to their domination of the solo sessions.
“I thought I was a lot more consistent than [what] I started out [with] and my serves were good and my returns were much better so that was helpful,” sophomore Kirsten Hailey said.
Against the Panthers, Hailey, Bezmenova and junior Madalena Andrade won their singles matches in two straight sets, sweeping their opponents.
Taking on Jemma Booth of Eastern Illinois, Hailey was able to take control of the match by playing patiently and waiting to strike in a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
“She was very consistent, up until if I were to hit a couple more shots than her – she would make the mistake so I really just needed to stay consistent and let her make the errors and get my serves in,” Hailey said.
Also pitching in wins were Belogliadova and junior Alexandra Hildreth who both finished big third-set victories down the stretch.
Before their mighty win at home, Bradley suffered a road loss to NIU in which the Huskies never slipped up and kept the Braves from recording a match win in the 7-0 loss.
“Northern Illinois played really well against us,” Tyler said. “I gotta give them a lot of credit. You know, I felt like we played okay but they just beat us. They were the better team that day.”
Although the Braves went winless in DeKalb, there was still growth in the played sets as Bezmenova forced her match against NIU’s Reagan Welch to go to a third set which she eventually lost.
“We had some bright spots, you know Maria Bezmenova really played well,” Tyler said. “Madalena Andrade is really playing well so you know there were some spots I felt we had some chances at. But like I said, [things] just didn’t go our way that day.”
Now sitting at 3-4, the Braves will look for some consistency and the chance to start a win streak when they battle with Southeast Missouri State at home this Friday.
