The Bradley tennis team traveled to Kentucky this past weekend and lost two closely contested road matches against Murray State and Southeast Missouri State. The two losses dropped the Braves to an 9-4 record.
Despite this, the Braves continue to achieve more milestones. After Saturday’s matches, it marks only the second time the Braves have had three positions with at least nine wins.
No. 1 singles sophomore Sandra Maletin stands at 10-2, No. 2 singles freshman Bozana Lojpur is 10-3 and No. 3 singles senior Malini Wijesinghe is at 10-2. The last time the team achieved this was during the 2014-15 season.
On Friday against Murray State, Bradley fell 5-2. The team failed to pick up the doubles point, dropping two of the three doubles matches. The duo of junior Natalie Barberry and Maletin were the only successful doubles team, winning their match 6-0.
The Braves picked up their only two points in singles play from Lojpur and Barberry. Wijesinghe forced a third set tiebreaker against Murray State’s Stasya Sharapova. The match finished 4-6, 6-2, 6-7, but Wijesinghe narrowly lost the tiebreaker 8-6.
The next day, the Braves fell in a closer match to Southeast Missouri State, 4-3. Bradley couldn’t obtain the doubles point, losing all three doubles matches. They managed to win only five games in doubles play.
Singles play was more competitive between the two teams. Barbery, Maletin and Wijesinghe picked up Bradley’s three points.
The Braves almost picked up two more points as Lojpur and freshman Nikki Perlwitz both forced their opponents into a third set but ultimately fell.
“Even though we lost both of those matches, I felt like we performed at a really high level,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “I’m not sure it’s a matter of getting back on track, but rather continuing to strive for improvement day in and day out.
Barbery was the only Brave to pick up two wins over the weekend, continuing her three-match win streak. It moves her No. 4 singles record to 6-3 and 14-6 overall.
The Braves played St. Louis Thursday at The Clubs at River City, sweeping the doubles point enroute to a 4-3 win. Their next match is on Sunday at Tulsa.
