Bradley tennis returned home this weekend, playing UIC on Friday and Valparaiso on Saturday. In two hard-fought battles, the Braves were victorious against the Beacons but fell to the Flames.
The Braves fell to 0-2 in conference play after losing to UIC 3-4. They won three out of the six singles matches, with comfortable victories coming from senior Maria Bezmenova, who won 6-2, 6-3 and freshman Andra Sirbu, who won 7-5, 6-0. Junior Kirstin Hailey fought through a close third set, eventually winning it 7-6.
It came down to the doubles point, which UIC dominated, winning all three matches. Two of them, however, were to the wire, only being won by a single point.
Hurt from the recent loss, Bradley desperately needed a win, which they got on Saturday.
The Braves secured a 5-2 victory against the Beacons, who came into the match with a 9-7 record. Bradley won four out of their six singles matches, with Bezmenova, Hailey, Sirbu and sophomore Mariia Pukhina winning in two sets.
The Braves also won the doubles point, as duos Bezmenova and Pukhina and sophomores Anna Belogliadova and Alexandra Hildreth won their matches by three and five points, respectively.
Bezmenova’s exceptional performance earned her the Missouri Valley Conference Singles Player of the Week award. She became the first Brave to win a Player of the Week award since Hailey and Madalena Andrade won Doubles Players of the Week a year ago. This also marked Bezmenova’s first time winning the award since February 2022.
Bradley also traveled to Saint Louis on Thursday, losing 2-5. The Braves won the doubles point with 6-4, 6-2 victories, but only Pukhina came up with a singles win.
The Braves return to conference play against Illinois State on Sunday. The Redbirds are 12-6 on the year, with their last two matches also being against Valparaiso and UIC, in which they won both.
With a record of 7-11 and six matches left in the regular season, the Braves will look to finish the year strong and get good results down the stretch.
