Bradley tennis traveled to Columbus, Ohio to cap off its fall season in the ITA Midwest Regionals. The Braves competed against some of the best college tennis players in the Midwest, including Ohio State, University of Illinois and Northwestern.
Junior Anna Belogliadova was Bradley’s only representative in the singles main tournament. She was defeated by Northwestern freshman Maia Loureiro by a score of 6-4, 6-0.
Despite the other seven team members losing in qualifying, six were given consolation matches. The Braves took advantage of these, as senior Kirstin Hailey, junior Mariia Pukhina and freshman Ruby Tseng won their matches by good margins.
“The ITA is probably the hardest tournament we play all season long,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “You’re up against some of the best teams in the country, so we have to adjust our expectations accordingly. I thought we competed really well, [but] in the end, we couldn’t get the results we wanted.”
In doubles, Bradley’s leading duo, Hailey and sophomore Andra Sirbu, could not compete after Sirbu injured her knee during her qualifying match and had to sit out the rest of the tournament.
Considering the level of competition, the Braves fielded respectable results. Junior Madi Rogers and sophomore Compassion Tsai lost 8-4. Belogliadova and sophomore Danielle Badman were defeated by two sets and Pukhina and Tseng had the same result.
“Our teams, I felt, were right there,” Tyler said. “A couple of mistakes here and there cost us those matches. But overall, I was happy with our level of play. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”
As the fall competition ends, the spring season quickly approaches. Bradley tennis will be back in action in 2025, as they take on Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Jan. 25 in Pekin. Overall, Tyler said he feels optimistic about the upcoming season and revealed some things he was impressed with so far this year.
“I was really happy with our doubles pairings. I think they came together well,” Tyler said. “It takes a lot of time to get comfortable with each other, and I thought we did a good job of making those pairings work, and I think we’ll get better as we’re able to get more reps together.”
“One of our biggest strengths for the past couple of seasons has been our team environment,” Tyler added. “We’ve got really positive energy and people who help each other, and if your team culture and environment are positive, then I like our chances of beating pretty much any team.”
After failing to qualify for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships last year, Bradley tennis looks to start their spring season strong.
