VALPARAISO, Ind.--  The Illinois State women's tennis team (13-7, 6-2 MVC) will open up the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championships against Drake University (5-15, 2-6, MVC) on April 25. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m. inside Valparaiso Tennis Complex.

LAST TIME OUT

The Birds picked up a 5-2 victory over the Belmont Bruins (5-14, 4-3 MVC) on Friday, April 18, inside Evergreen Racquet Club. 

Illinois State swept doubles play to pick up the first point of the day. Juniors Lana Caculovic (Dugo Selo, Croatia) and Silvia Pomarolli (Cecina, Italy) defeated Kliimand/Sokolovic of BU by a score of 6-1. 

At No. 2, graduate student Elena Jankulovska (Skopje, Macedonia) and freshman Emma Lindh (Malmo, Sweden) continued the Illinois State momentum by picking up the second win of the day by a final score of 6-4. The final Redbirds doubles win came thanks to freshman Nicole Iosio (Cordenons, Italy) and junior Zoe Limparis (Hinsdale, Illinois) by a 7-5 final.

As play shifted to singles competition Illinois State secured four victories, including a three-set win at No. 6 from freshman Sophie Marie Lowe (Wimbledon, Great Britain) over Sarah McElrath of the Bruins by scores of 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. 

At No. 1 Caculovic defeated Kliimand, 6-4, 6-2. Iosio secured the victory at No. 5 in straight sets over Aly Getty, 6-4, 6-2. Freshman Nuria Sanz (Valencia, Spain) gave the final match point to the Redbirds winning in a nail biting tiebreaker against Libbie Hamilton at No. 4 by a score of 6-2, 6(7)-6(5).

POSTSEASON 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.

ALL-TIME MEETINGS VS DRAKE 

Illinois State holds an overall 18-10 record over Drake. The Birds is 9-4 at home versus the Bulldogs and are 5-5 inside Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

The last meeting between the Birds and Bulldogs came nearly a month ago (March 30), as ISU defeated Drake by a final of 5-2 inside the Evergreen Racquet Club. The first ever match between the two schools took place on April 10, 2004 which ended in a 5-2 ISU victory in Bloomington, Ill.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

Drake comes into the MVC tournament as the No. 6 seed in the field. The Bulldogs post a 5-15 record, while registering a 2-6 record in Missouri Valley Conference play this season.

DU dropped the regular season finale to Murray State University by a score of 5-2. Jana Ruzic picked up the lone singles win for the Bulldogs at Bruna Melato by final scores of 6-4, 6-3. Drake also picked up the doubles point as they swept the Racers.

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).

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