After a convincing victory over Omaha last weekend, Bradley tennis had another packed lineup, competing against Chicago State, St. Thomas and UW-Milwaukee over the weekend. Unable to start an early-season winning streak, the team dropped all three matches.
In Chicago on Saturday, the Cougars defeated the Braves 1-6, with sophomore Anna Belogliadova securing the team’s sole point with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win. In doubles, junior Kirstin Hailey and freshman Andra Sirbu secured a 6-2 win, but Chicago State won the other two matches.
Bradley played against the Tommies four hours later and achieved a better result this go-around, winning two points. Belogliadova won her match 3-6, 7-5, 2-0 and senior Maria Bezmenova won a straight two sets, 6-4, 7-6. Bezmenova and sophomore Mariia Pukhina also claimed victory in their doubles match with a slim 7-6 win, winning one out of three sets for Bradley.
The losses didn’t stop there, however. After two grueling matches, Bradley traveled to Milwaukee to face the Panthers. The Braves met the same fate as their last match, being defeated 2-5.
After losing the first set, Bezmenova came back to win her singles match 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sirbu also came back from a first-set loss, winning 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Even though the Braves lost two doubles matches again, Belogliadova and sophomore Alexandra Hildreth won their match 7-6 (7-5).
Despite the Braves’ record falling early in the season, there are still 15 matches to go. Bradley hopes to gain momentum on Saturday when they take on SIU Edwardsville, who beat the Braves 4-1 last year.
