Bradley’s tennis team saw its three-match win streak come to an end this past weekend,suffering road losses to both 75th-ranked SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 25 and UMKC on Feb. 26.
Against undefeated SIUE, Bradley managed to salvage two points in a 4-2 defeat. The duo of juniors Nikki Perlwitz and Bozana Lojpur won their doubles match, 6-3, and junior Nina Marjanovic secured two straight set victories (7-5, 6-0) over the Cougars’ Amber Hochstatter to clinch a singles win.
“[Hochstatter] is a really good player; she started off really strong, so it took me a bit to get the hang of things,” Marjanovic said. “I feel like I’ve been playing much better recently in my college career. There’s definitely much space for improvement, but I have gotten much better when it comes to the mentality of matches and practicing.”
The following day, the Braves traveled to Kansas City to take on UMKC and departed with a 4-1 loss. However, Bradley’s standout athletes from the SIU-Edwardsville match were just as effective against the Roos.
Marjanovic netted another singles win (6-2, 6-1) while Perlwitz and Lojpur’s 6-1 doubles victory was rewarded with being named MVC Doubles Team of the Week. The Braves earned Doubles Team of the Week for the third straight week, which is a program record.
“SIUE and UMKC are both good teams; I think we were right there with both of them,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “The score doesn’t always necessarily reflect how close the match was, so I felt really good about the way they competed. Both of those matches could’ve gone our way but it just didn’t happen this weekend.”
The team of the week honor marks the fifth award Bradley has achieved this season, which ranks first in the MVC over Illinois State’s four total awards.
“I like where we are,” Tyler said. “We aren’t winning as much as I would like, but non-conference season is all about getting ready for the Valley in a couple of weeks.”
The Braves’ next task will come on March 5, when they will travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to face Southeast Missouri State.
