Women's Tennis Slips Past Bradley, 4-3, in Regular Season Finale

PEORIA, Ill. – Putting a bow on the regular season, the Bemont University women's tennis team earned a 4-3 road victory over Bradley Saturday at Parkside Fitness in Illinois. Wins by senior Anastasiya Zholdakova and freshman Sarah McElrath in singles action propelled the Bruins (6-14, 5-3 MVC) past the shorthanded Braves (3-17, 2-6 MVC) after Belmont secured the doubles point.
 
At No. 2 doubles, Zholdakova and senior Aly Getty topped Bradley's Mariia Pukhina and Compassion Tsai 6-4 to clinch the pivotal opening point. The Bruins won at No. 3 doubles by default due to the Braves having only five available players.
 
Senior Viktoria Kliimand and sophomore Hana Sokolovic took Bradley's Anna Belogliadova and Madi Rogers to a tiebreaker at the top doubles spot but came up just short in the breaker, 7-2.
 
Zholdakova wasted no time in giving Belmont a 3-0 lead with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over the Braves' Belogliadova.
 
With the Bruins being awarded court six by default, Belmont needed only one more singles win for the team triumph. It would not come easy, though, as Bradley earned a straight-set win at No. 2 singles and pulled out three-set victories at the third and fourth positions.
 
Coming down to the fifth spot, McElrath prevailed in straight sets against the Braves' Rogers, 7-5, 6-3.
 
Up Next
The Bruins are the No. 4 seed for next weekend's MVC Tennis Championship, held Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 at the Valpo Tennis Complex in Valparaiso, Indiana. Belmont will face fifth-seeded Northern Iowa Friday at 10 a.m. in the quarterfinals with the winner getting top-seeded defending tournament champion Murray State in the semifinals Saturday at 10 a.m. The 2025 MVC Tennis Championship title match is scheduled for Sunday morning, also at 10 a.m.
 
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