NORMAL, Ill. — Four Redbirds went 2-0 Saturday as the Illinois State women’s tennis team toped Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), 5-2, at Marquette’s Helfaer Tennis Stadium. Julia Zubkova, Franziska Steinhardt, Tanja Hrovatic and Hannah Esker went undefeated in their singles and doubles matchups.
Illinois State brings its overall season record to 2-1, while UWM falls to 3-4 on the season.
“We started off slow in the beginning of the contest in doubles,” said head coach Chris Hoover. “However, we were able to come back and finish strong. It was a good wake up for tomorrow’s match against No. 73 Marquette.”
Zubkova and Steinhardt struggled in the Flight 1 position. However, they were able to outlast UWM’s Kelly Drvaric and Kari Kastenholz in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (7-4).
The Redbirds continued their winning ways and swept the doubles matches. In Flight 2, Natalia Lech and Hrovatic bested Sammie Schoen and Ashley Schoneman, 8-1. The Redbird duo of Esker and Carmen Peters topped UWM’s Megan Gow and Jenna Felsher, 8-4.
In singles action, Illinois State went 4-2, giving the Redbirds their second win of the season.
In Flight 2, Zubkova bested UWM’s Drvaric in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, while Steinhardt defeated UWM’s Schoeman, 6-1, 6-1, in Flight 3 singles. The Flight 4 and Flight 5 singles matches were no different with Illinois State’s Hrovatic winning, 6-2, 6-0, over UWM’s Schoen in Flight 4, while Esker topped Gow, 6-2, 6-3, in Flight 5.
Illinois State’s only losses came in the Flight 1 and Flight 6 singles position. Lech fell to UWM’s Drvaric, 7-5, 6-4, while Illinois State’s Sarah Streitz fell to UWM’s Felsher, 6-0, 6-1.
The Redbirds are back on the court Sunday as they face No. 73 Marquette at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium.
