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Bradley tennis continues 12-year unbeaten streak against Western Illinois

Kirstin Hailey returns a ball. Photo courtesy of Bradley Athletics.

 2010 was a year of many historical events. Apple unveiled the first iPad, the world’s tallest building opened and it was when Western Illinois was last able to beat Bradley at tennis. 

The Braves (4-5) continued their 12-year unbeaten run as they took down Western Illinois (0-4) 6-1, at Parkside Fitness in Pekin on Feb. 19.

The Braves’ doubles team of freshman Kirstin Hailey and sophomore Madalena Andrade picked up their second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week award. The feat had never been accomplished before in program history until Bradley’s No. 1 doubles team won their fourth match of the season. 

“I had a feeling we were going to work well together, and we came in with some pretty heavy goals of wanting to start off well right off the bat,” Hailey said. “Maddy [Andrade] and I were the newcomers coming into it, so we were both pretty nervous, but we both figured it out.”

All three Bradley doubles teams won their set against the Leathernecks. The ever-reliable duo of juniors Bozana Lojpur and Nikki Perlwitz comfortably won their set 6-0. Hailey and Andrade got a 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles, which clinched the win, and following them were senior Nina Marjanovic and sophomore Maria Bezmenova who were on pace to win their set. 

With the doubles point in the bag, Andrade picked up her first singles win as a Brave with a 6-0, 6-1 performance at No. 3 singles. A similar story was recorded with a No. 1 singles win from Lojpur as she finished 6-1 and 6-2. Hailey would follow with a 6-3, 6-2 win and Perlwitz put the finishing touches on Bradley’s 6-1 victory. 

“I tell my team all the time [that] there is no such thing as a bad Division I team,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “If you take your foot off the gas for a minute, you can certainly lose. I was really proud of our focus, not reading into their record and getting the job done.”

Lojpur is close to leapfrogging into sixth place in program history as her win against the Leathernecks puts her at 59 career wins. 

After starting the year 0-3, the Braves have stepped up, going undefeated when playing with their full roster available. 

The Braves now have three home matches in the books as they hit the road to meet Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Kansas City on Feb. 25 and 26. 

“It’s going to be tough; SIUE is a good team and they brought in some really good players,” Tyler said. “It’s a match we can win, certainly, but we’re going to have to be healthy and play our best tennis. UMKC is the team that has traditionally gotten the best of us, but it’s always been one of those matches that I feel we can win, so I’m hoping that against UMKC we can turn it around a little bit.”

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