NORMAL, Ill. – Beginning the final weekend of the regular season, the Belmont University women's tennis team was unable to get past Illinois State Friday afternoon in a 5-2 loss indoors at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois. The Bruins (5-14, 4-3 MVC) earned wins at two of the top three singles positions but couldn't overcome a 0-1 start after dropping the pivotal doubles point.
The host Redbirds (13-7, 6-2 MVC) won all three doubles matches and took a 3-1 lead in singles play before clinching the match with a three-set win at No. 6 singles.
Senior
Anastasiya Zholdakova won her second consecutive match in convincing fashion at the top of the singles lineup, ousting Illinois State's Silvia Pomarolli 6-3, 6-0. The singles triumph kept Belmont in the match after the Redbirds had rattled off straight-set wins on courts two and five.
Sophomore
Hana Sokolovic quickly evened the team score at 1-1 with a win due to retirement at No. 3 singles. After dropping the opening set, Sokolovic led Illinois State's Elena Jankulovska 1-0 in the second when Jankulovska retired.
At the sixth singles spot, freshman
Sarah McElrath battled the Redbirds' Sophie Marie Lowe and took the first set, 6-4. However, Lowe won sets two and three by identical 6-1 scores to secure the match for Illinois State.
In the final match of the day at No. 4 singles, junior
Libbie Hamilton fell 7-5 in a second-set tiebreaker against the Redbirds' Nuria Sanz after surrendering the first set, 6-2.
Illinois State's top doubles duo of Lana Caculovic and Pomarolli gave up just one game against senior
Viktoria Kliimand and Sokolovic, while senior
Aly Getty and Zholdakova were handed a 6-4 loss at second doubles versus Jankulovska and Emma Lindh. Hamilton and McElrath were edged 7-5 by the Redbirds' Nicole Iosio and Zoe Limparis.
Up Next
The Bruins put a bow on the regular season Saturday morning at Bradley. First serve from the David Markin Tennis Courts in Peoria, Illinois, is slated for 10 a.m. Belmont has secured the No. 4 seed for next weekend's Missouri Valley Conference Tennis Championship and will take on the No. 5 seed, who has yet to be determined, next Friday in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. The 2025 MVC Tennis Championship is being held at the Valpo Tennis Complex in Valparaiso, Indiana, next Friday-Sunday, April 25-27.
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