Weekly Notebook (
PDF)
Singles Player of the Week
Natalia Barbery, Jr., Bradley (Santa Cruz, Bolivia)
Barbery secured the clinching point in both matches, helping Bradley to a Saturday doubleheader sweep against Omaha and Eastern Illinois … In the morning match against Omaha, Barbery cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 Singles, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead in an eventual 6-1 victory against the Mavericks, which avenged last year’s 5-2 loss at Omaha … In the afternoon match against Eastern Illinois, Barbery helped the Braves snap a 10-match, 18-year skid against the Panthers by battling back for a 3-set win at No. 4 Singles, pushing Bradley’s lead to 4-2 in the eventual 5-2 victory … With her two wins Friday, Barbery improved to 10-4 overall in singles play this season and cracked the program’s all-time top 30 with her 30th career singles win.
Doubles Team of the Week
Bozana Lojpur, Fr., Bradley (Burnaby, B.C.)
Malini Wijesinghe, Sr., Bradley (Apple Valley, MN)
Playing at No. 2 Doubles in both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader, Lojpur/Wijesinghe enjoyed a 2-0 day for the Braves … The 6-3 win in the morning against Omaha locked up the doubles point for the Braves in the eventual 6-1 team victory … The Bradley combo added a 6-4 victory at No. 2 Doubles in the afternoon match against Eastern Illinois while handing the duo of Abby Carpenter/Claire Martin its first loss of the spring dual match season … The Lojpur/Wijesinghe duo improved to 9-5 overall this year, including 3-1 at No. 2 Doubles to start the dual match season.
Other Top Performances:
Singles:
Liza Petushkova, Drake
Won her lone match of the week with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles to help Drake to a 5-2 win over SIUE in which the Bulldogs clinched the match before the Cougars registered a point … her victory at No. 1 singles clinched the match for the Bulldogs … the win was her second-straight win of the season.
Tara Damnjanovic, Illinois State
Freshman Tara Damnjanovic was undefeated this weekend with a 2-0 singles and 2-0 doubles record. She was dominant in both of her matches playing in the No. 2 singles spot. On Friday she took down Chicago State’s Kristina Pukhaeva 6-2, 6-2 to help Illinois State to a 6-1 victory. She followed it up with a convincing win over UIC’s Karyna Bihel 6-3, 6-0. Tara currently holds 4-0 singles record playing in No. 1 and 2 spots.
Daisy Phillips, UNI
Against SIUE, Phillips earned her third-straight victory, defeating Raillane Kamdem 6-0, 6-2. Phillips teamed up with Olivia Fain in the No. 3 doubles spot to secure the doubles point for the Panthers.
Doubles:
Liza Petushkova/Kenya Williams, Drake
Remained unbeaten in 2019 at No. 1 doubles with a 6-4 victory to help Drake to a 5-2 win over SIUE … their win clinched the doubles point and eventually match for the Bulldogs.
Tara Damnjanovic/Natalia Bravo, Illinois State
Tara Damnjanovic and Natalia Bravo went 2-0 this weekend at the No. 2 doubles spot. They took down Chicago State’s Borodina/Dejanovic 6-3 on Friday, as Illinois State went on to beat the Cougars 6-1. The next day they beat UIC’s Colic/Sanders 6-4, giving the Redbirds a crucial win to secure the doubles point against UIC. Both Damnjanovic and Bravo went on to win their singles matches in Illinois State’s tight loss to UIC (3-4).
Reghan Lynch/Claudia Toledo, UNI
In the No. 1 doubles spot for the Panthers, Reghan Lynch and Claudia Toledo earned their second-straight victory in the No. 1 doubles spot, defeating Lara Tupper and Ann-Christine Link of SIUE 6-2. The duo has started the season 2-1 at the No. 1 spot.