While many Bradley students relaxed during their Spring Break, the women’s tennis team travelled to the West Coast for three matches. Unfortunately for the Braves, the team dropped each of those three road matches and also lost their lone home match on Tuesday afternoon.
The Braves’ West Coast stint marked the first time Bradley has travelled to California. Bradley first squared off against Southern Utah. Injuries continued to plague the team as sophomore Natalia Barberry was unable to compete in singles after winning her doubles match. After collecting the default point, Southern Utah won three more singles matches to give them the 4-3 victory.
Barberry isn’t the only Brave to suffer an injury. Senior Alejandra de Lasa recently returned from her injury and senior Aimee Manfredo hasn’t played this entire spring season. Head coach Matt Tyler said battling through injuries has been a struggle.
“It’s tough to play when you don’t feel well physically, whether it’s injury or illness,” Tyler said. “Hats off to our team. They come out and lay it on the line every time. They show a lot of grit, match-in and match-out. They’re working hard, and that’s all I can ask for.”
The following day, Bradley faced off against UC Irvine. The Braves got singles victories from senior Alexa Brandt and freshman Sandra Maletin. Unfortunately, the Braves would drop the rest of their singles matches, as UC Irvine claimed the 4-2 win.
The Braves ended their road trip with a match against UC Riverside. Playing shorthanded again, the Braves were in an early hole and failed to win a single match as UC Riverside secured the 7-0 win.
The Braves returned home for a Tuesday afternoon match against Murray State. The match served as Bradley’s first home match in over a month. Brandt explained the impact of playing behind a home court.
“It was a great trip, and we had a lot of fun,” Brandt said. “We competed hard, but it’s definitely nice to be home, and some of the fans came out.”
The Braves lost both doubles matches and found themselves in an early deficit. Brandt delivered with a singles victory in two sets. However, the Braves lost the next five singles matches, and Murray State captured the 6-1 victory. Brandt’s victory put her in sole possession of fourth place for all-time singles wins in Bradley history. Brandt said she believed the accomplishment was rewarding.
“It’s definitely nice,” she said. “I’ve had a long career, so it’s nice to be able to play well and win good matches.”
The Braves will be back on the road next week for a match against Western Michigan. Tyler said he looks to prepare his team thoroughly.
“We’re looking at these next couple of matches as practice reps, getting ready for conference season [at] this point,” Tyler said. “Hopefully we can get better, get healthy in the next 10 days and be ready to take on [Illinois State University] soon.”
