Birds Face Off against Flames in Semifinal Round of MVC Championships
VALPARAISO, Ind.-- No. 6 seeded Illinois State (15-7, 7-2 MVC) will face off against the No. 2 seeded UIC Flames (15-4, 7-1 MVC) in the semifinal round of the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championships inside The Courts of Northwest Indiana hosted by Valparaiso University. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. (C.T.)
LAST TIME OUT
The Birds defeated the Drake Bulldogs 4-2 in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 MVC Championships. ISU claimed the doubles point with wins from juniors Lana Caculovic (Dugo Selo, Croatia) and Silvia Pomarolli (Cecina, Italy) at No. 1 by a 6-4 final over Jessica Popiol/Jana Ruzic. Graduate student Elena Jankulovska (Skopje, Macedonia) and freshman Emma Lindh (Malmo, Sweden) clinched the point with an identical 6-4 victory at the No. 2 position against Elizabet Klavinska/Shiori Takeda.
As competition shifted to singles play, the Birds picked up three wins. Caculovic picked up a straight-set win over Drake's Popiol at No. 1 by a score of 6-2, 6-2. At No 2, Pomarolli battled to a 6-2, 6-2 victory for the third win of the day over Klavinska. Nicole Iosio (Cordenons, Italy) secured the match for the Redbirds defeating Tess Caldicott, 7-5, 6-2.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC received a first round bye in the MVC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Flames finished the regular season with a 15-4 overall record while holding a 7-1 record in the Valley.
UIC blanked tournament host Valparaiso in the regular season finale 7-0. At No. 1 Mayu Ushio picked up a 7-5, 6-1, 1 (10)- 0 (3) win over Valpo's Moira Silva. Doubles play was led by Camille Belberka and Edit Cosmo who battled to a 6-2 victory at the No. 2 position.
ALL-TIME MEETINGS VS UIC
Illinois State trails 8-13 in all-time meetings against the Flames. The Birds are 3-8 inside Evergreen Racquet Club and are 4-5 while traveling to the Windy City.
The last meeting was nearly two weeks ago (April. 13) as ISU fell 5-2 at XS Tennis Village in Chicago, Ill. The first ever match between the two schools took place on March 14, 2004 in Normal, Ill, which ended in a 4-3 Redbird win.
MVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Redbirds will make a fifth trip to the Missouri Valley Conference Championships since the 2020-21 campaign, looking for their first MVC Tournament title since 2022.
In 2024, Illinois State advanced to the Championship match for the third consecutive season before falling to Murray State, 4-1. The 2023 MVC Tournament saw the host Redbirds advance to the Championship match against Drake, as the Bulldogs closed the match with a win at No. 2 singles for the 4-3 win and the MVC title.
In 2022, the Birds received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after defeating the Drake Bulldogs, 4-3, before falling to the Ohio State Buckeyes, 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tourney.
FOLLOW THE REDBIRDS
For all the latest on Illinois State women's tennis, stay tuned to GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on "X" (@RedbirdWTEN), Facebook (Illinois State Women's Tennis Team) and Instagram (redbirdwtennis).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
Players Mentioned
Players Mentioned
Latest Athletics News
- Illinois State Falls To UNI In Second Game of Series, 12-4After the first inning of play, it looked as if Illinois State and Northern Iowa would be locked in a back-and-forth game similar to the first of the series on Friday, however the Panthers (28-16, 16-7 MVC) scored five runs in the second inning to run away from the Redbirds (19-28, 12-10 MVC) by a score of 12-4 in six innings at Marian Kneer Stadium on Saturday.
- ISU Falls to UIC in MVC Championship Semifinals, 4-1The Illinois State women's tennis team (15-8, 7-3 MVC) fell to the UIC Flames (16-4, 8-1 MVC) in the MVC Semifinal round at The Courts of Northwest Indiana by a score of 4-1 on Saturday (April. 26).
- Redbirds Beat Salukis, 11-9, to Open SeriesIllinois State baseball team secured a Friday night victory at Southern Illinois by a 11-9 scoreline at Itchy Jones Stadium.
- Redbirds Drop Series Opener To The Panthers, 9-8The opening game of the weekend series between Illinois State and UNI was an explosive one, as the team combined for 17 runs and 26 hits on Friday night, but it was the visiting Panthers (27-16, 15-7 MVC) that came out on top over the Redbirds (19-27, 12-9 MVC) by a score of 9-8 at Marian Kneer Stadium.
- Birds Advance to MVC Semifinals with 4-2 win over DrakeThe Illinois State women's tennis team (14-7, 7-2 MVC) defeated the Drake Bulldogs (5-16, 2-7 MVC) in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 Missouri Conference Championships by a score of 4-2 inside The Courts of Northwest Indiana hosted by Valparaiso University.
- Track & Field Travels To Champaign For Fighting Illini Twilight On SaturdayThe Illinois State track & field program will travel to Champaign, Ill., for the Fighting Illini Twilight hosted by Illinois on Saturday afternoon.
