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Women’s Tennis Completes Successful Fall Season

Bradley’s women’s tennis team ended its fall season against premier competition at the Drake Jamboree in Des Moines, Iowa last weekend.

Seven players made the trip for the Braves, facing off against Nebraska, Kansas State, Iowa and Creighton, among other teams in the round-robin tournament. The Braves finished with an 11-12 singles record and a 4-8 doubles record combined during the three-day event.

Sophomore Ariel Dechter was the highlight of the tournament, finishing undefeated in singles play with four wins over players from Kansas State, Nebraska and a pair of Creighton Blue Jays. For her success, Dechter was named Bradley’s Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

Sophomore Ashley Thai finished with a 3-1 record in singles.

Thai defeated Drake, Creighton, and Nebraska before losing to Kansas State in the final round. Paired with freshman Alexa Brandt in doubles play the duo finished 2-2 with wins over Creighton and Nebraska and losses to SIU-Edwardsville and Iowa. Brandt finished 1-3 in singles play.

Freshman Aimee Manfredo finished 2-2, senior Liz Przystawski went 1-3 and senior Cassia Wojtalik lost all three of her matches. In doubles play, Manfredo/Przystawski, Dechter and partner Irinka Toidze and Wojtalik, who was partnered with players from various schools, went a combined 3-9.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the way we competed,” head coach Matt Tyler said. “It was a great way to end the fall season.”

Record-wise, this fall has been one of the most successful seasons in years for Bradley, who went 59-40 in singles play, 20-21 in doubles play, and 30-24 against Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) competition. Last year, the Braves went 33-69 in singles play, 19-38 in doubles play, and 7-34 against the Valley.

Tyler said his team really met his expectations for the fall.

“The biggest thing for us going into the fall season was creating the team aspect,” Tyler said. “We focused on how everyone got along with each other. We did a great job taking care of that first and foremost, and that’s the part that I’m most proud of. When the team aspect is good, the wins will follow.”

While the players have their own individual aspirations for the upcoming spring season, Tyler said the overall team goal was obvious: to improve their standing in the MVC.

“We finished last in the MVC last year, so there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement, and I think we’ll capitalize on it,” Tyler said.

The Braves will continue to train in the offseason and will resume practice in mid-January. Bradley begins their spring season Jan. 24 vs. Marquette.

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