MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Redbird Julia Zubkova went undefeated in play this weekend, but it was not enough as Illinois State narrowly fell to No. 73 Marquette, 4-3, at Marquette’s Helfaer Tennis Stadium Sunday.
Zubkova went 4-0 on the weekend bringing her overall season singles record to 6-6 and doubles record to 7-6.
Zubkova started off the day with a doubles win with partner Franziska Steinhardt. The Redbird duo bested Marquette’s (MU) Olga Fischer and Paola Calderon in a tiebreaking match, 8-7 (10-8), in Flight 1.
Zubkova continued her winning streak in Flight 1 singles play by defeating MU’s Calderon, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7). Joining Zubkova with an Illinois State singles win was senior Tanja Hrovatic as she bested Christina Ruiz (MU), 6-2, 6-3, in Flight 4.
Steinhardt won her Flight 4 singles match by default as MU’s Rachel Hush was hurt in the third set.
In the rest of singles play, Natalia Lech lost to MU’s Fischer, 7-5, 6-3, in Flight 2, and Hannah Esker fell to Robin Metzler (MU), 6-1, 6-1, in Flight 5. Marquette sealed its win in the Flight 6 singles as Gillian Hush defeated Carmen Peters, 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles action, the duo of Lech and Hrovatic was unable to hold off MU’s Ruiz and Metzler and fell, 9-8, in Flight 2 doubles. In Flight 3, the Redbird pairing of Esker and Peters lost to the Hush sister of MU, 8-2.
“The whole contest was pretty tight throughout the day,” said head coach Chris Hoover. “I am proud of the way we fought, and I can see improvement in every match we play. Julia was a leader for the team today, and she really earned her wins today.”
Illinois State falls to 2-2 on the season, while Marquette goes 8-3 overall.
The Redbirds continue play next weekend (Feb. 20-22) as they travel to Las Vegas to face No. 50 UNLV Friday, UC Riverside Saturday and Utah State Sunday at UNLV’s Fertitta Tennis Complex.
