Women's Tennis Hosts UIC in the Music City Sunday Morning

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Off to a 2-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play, the Belmont University women's tennis team returns to action in the Music City this weekend. The Bruins (5-10, 2-0 MVC) host the University of Illinois Chicago Sunday morning at 10 a.m. in the first-ever Valley match at the Beaman Family Tennis Complex.
 
Live scoring of Sunday's conference contest will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
Last Saturday, Belmont earned a 4-0 sweep at Missouri State. The Bruins were scheduled to take on Murray State last Sunday in Kentucky, but the match was postponed due to travel issues.
 
Belmont began MVC action two weeks ago on March 19 with a narrow 4-3 defeat of visiting Valparaiso indoors at the Ensworth Tennis Center. Graduate student Meredith Roberts clinched the league-opening win with a three-set triumph at No. 5 singles.
 
Last weekend against the Bears, the Bruins were strong at the end of their lineup as Belmont won the fourth through sixth singles positions in straight sets to close out the road victory.
 
Freshman Mariia Hlahola has been terrific at the top singles spot, leading the Bruins with an 8-5 record on the season. Teaming up with sophomore Anastasiya Zholdakova, the Ukrainian duo of Hlahola and Zholdakova has gone 5-3 at No. 1 doubles and is ranked 71st in the nation in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings.
 
The Flames enter Sunday riding a three-match winning streak and fresh off a 5-2 home win over Murray State Friday morning indoors. UIC is 9-7 on the year and 3-1 in MVC play with road wins at Valparaiso (5-2) and Northern Iowa (6-1). The Flames' lone loss in league action came two weeks ago at Drake (5-2) in both team's Valley opener.
 
Junior Agnes Gustafsson, who owns an 8-5 record at the top singles spot, is the reigning MVC Singles Player of the Week. Also in its first year in the Valley, UIC was picked third in league's preseason poll but received a trio of first-place votes.
 
Sunday morning will be the first-ever meeting between Belmont and the Flames.
 
Up Next
The Bruins remain in Nashville next weekend, hosting Northern Iowa Friday afternoon before welcoming Drake next Saturday morning for senior day.
 
Follow Belmont women's tennis on social media – @BelmontWTennis on Twitter and @belmontwtennis on Instagram – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.