After coming in with a two-game win streak, Bradley tennis hoped to keep up their good fortune going against the Belmont Bruins.
However, things didn’t quite go to plan.
Despite starting their conference trek on a sour note, the Braves had some positives to take away from the match.
As Bradley traveled to Nashville to face Belmont, they lost 5-2 to one of the newest members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
During the day’s singles portion, the younger members of the team gave the Braves two points out of their six matches. Freshman Andra Sirbu and sophomore Alexandra Hildreth won 6-2, 6-4 and 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, respectively.
Although they weren’t victorious, senior Maria Bezmenova and sophomore Mariia Pukhina took their matches to a third-set tiebreaker. Sophomore Anna Belogliadova and junior Kirstin Hailey both lost in two sets but kept their matches close, losing 6-3, 6-2, and 7-5, 6-2, respectively.
As for doubles, the Braves couldn’t salvage the point, as partners Sirbu and Hailey won their match 7-5. The rest of the matches were also tight, with Bezmenova and Pukhina only losing 6-3 while Belogliadova and Hildreth lost 7-6.
Moving to 6-10 after the loss to Belmont, the Braves will go into this weekend with a chip on their shoulder as they return to Peoria to face UIC Friday and Valparaiso on Saturday.
