After last weekend’s loss to Northern Iowa, Bradley women’s tennis redeemed themselves against the Western Illinois Leathernecks in a 4-3 victory. However, this matchup was more than just a win for coach Matt Tyler, who captured his 104th dual-match victory, earning him the most in the program’s history.
The first doubles pairing, junior Mariia Pukhina and freshman Ruby Tseng, was victorious in the first match with a score of 6-2. Juniors Anna Belogliadova and Madi Rogers secured the doubles point for the Braves in the next match with a score of 6-1. Unfortunately, in the third doubles match, the Braves had no choice but to forfeit.
The Braves struggled with doubles matches last season. However, with their kickoff this season, they have focused on their weaknesses to secure doubles points for the team.
In the singles contest, Belogliadova defeated her opponent Lara Rossetto Diniz de Souza, 6-0 and 6-2 for the first singles point. Pukhina scored the next point, defeating her opponent, Paige Grice, 6-4 and 6-4. The final singles point awarded to the Braves was from Tseng’s victory against Richardlyne Francois, 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4.
The following two singles matches saw Rogers fall short against Leatherneck’s Mana Fawcett, 6-2 and 6-0 while fellow teammate Compassion Tsa fell in a close redemption, 4-6, 6-4 and 10-7. The Braves were also left to forfeit the sixth singles match.
The Braves’ next matchup will be in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars’ territory at Parkside Fitness on Saturday.
