The Bradley tennis team played its second home match of the indoor season on Saturday, a 4-3 loss to defending Western Athletic Conference champion University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Bradley failed to capture the doubles point as the number one pairing of junior Natalia Barbery and sophomore Sandra Maletin won the only doubles set 7-6. UMKC prevailed by winning two of the three doubles matches, though the Braves did manage to win three of six singles competitions.
According to head coach Matt Tyler, the competition was a learning experience for the Braves against a tough UMKC opponent.
“We need to work on some consistency and not making as many unforced errors,” Tyler said. “We’re going to get better every single day so that will improve.”
Tyler emphasized the importance of the doubles matches for the overall outcome.
“It changes everyone’s attitude,” Tyler said. “You feel great if you win the doubles point, we are up and we go into the singles playing loose versus trying to dig out of a hole.”
Senior Malini Wijesinghe won her singles competition 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 after losing her doubles match with freshman teammate Bozana Lojpur. Despite the team loss, Wijesinghe was proud of the group’s mentality throughout the close match.
“UMKC is a good team and we were points away from winning,” Wijesinghe said. “Everybody just fought really hard and everyone competed very well even if we didn’t have the outcomes that we wanted.”
According to Wijesinghe, the team realizes their room for improvement. They are currently setting their sights for a successful campaign as they prepare for a doubleheader tomorrow against Omaha and Eastern Illinois.
The first match will begin against Omaha at 9 a.m., followed by Eastern Illinois starting at approximately 2 p.m. Both matches will take place at the Clubs at River City in Peoria.
