Weekly Notebook (
PDF)
Singles Player of the Week
Natalia Barbery, Bradley, Jr., Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Barbery earned a pair of straight-sets wins at No. 4 Singles, helping the Braves to program milestones while completing the first undefeated MVC season in Bradley history … Barbery finished Saturday’s 6-1 win against Drake, Bradley’s first win versus the Bulldogs in series history, with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 4 Singles … She added 6-0, 6-3 win Sunday against UNI, technically becoming the first-ever Bradley women’s tennis player to finish undefeated (5-0) during the regular season in MVC dual matches (freshman Bozana Lojpur also went undefeated in The Valley, but hers was the last match to finish Sunday) … Barbery finished the regular-season on a 7-match winning streak and her 12 wins in the No. 4 position equal the most at that spot in the playing order for a season in Bradley history.
Doubles Team of the Week
Veronika Golanova, R-Sr. Illinois State (Roznov Pod Radhostem, Czech Republic)
Tara Damjanovic, Fr. Illinois State (Valjevo, Serbia)
The Senior Freshman duo of Veronika Golanova and Tara Damnjanovic were on fire to help the Redbirds clinch the MVC Regular Season title this past weekend. First the pair took down UNI’s Lynch/Toledo 6-2 at the No. 1 spot on Saturday, April 20. Next they defeated Drake’s Palumbo/Walczak to help the ‘Birds take down the Bulldogs. The duo went 4-1 overall in MVC play at the No. 1 spot.
Other Top Performances:
Singles:
Liza Petushkova, Drake
Went 1-1 last week for Drake in the No. 1 position. Lost a hard-fought match to Sandra Maletin of Bradley, 6-7 (3-7), 2-6 but bounced back with a 5-7, 7-6, (11-9) victory over Veronika Golanova of Illinois State. Went 0-2 in doubles playing in the No. 1 match versus the Braves and the No. 2 spot against the Redbirds.
Natalia Bravo, Illinois State
Junior Natalia Bravo has been a major asset to the Redbirds since she joined the team this season. Bravo took down UNI’s Harri Proudfoot 6-3, 6-3 and Drake’s Sophia Haleas to help the Redbirds take the MVC Regular Season title. Bravo is also undefeated this season in the MVC at the No. 3 spot.
Ellie Burger, Missouri State
Ellie Burger continued her winning streak this past week, earning victories against Oral Roberts and Valparaiso. She posted straight-set decisions in both matches, downing her Golden Eagle opponent 6-2, 6-2 in the fifth and finished out MVC play with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 effort at the No. 6 position. Throughout league play, Burger remained spotless, garnering a 5-0 record. She finished the regular season winning nine of her past 10 matches.
Claire Czerwonka, Valparaiso
Czerwonka enjoyed a perfect week in singles play, rolling her way to a pair of straight set wins at No. 1 singles. The sophomore battled her way to a Set 1 victory on a tiebreaker over Chicago State’s Anastasiia Goncharova 7-6(2) before rolling to a 6-1 triumph in the second set on Wednesday. She followed that up with another straight-set victory on Saturday, downing Missouri State’s Alye Darter 6-4, 6-4 for a Missouri Valley Conference triumph. The wins allowed Czerwonka to extend her team lead in singles victories as she wrapped up the regular season with 11.
Doubles:
Natalia Barbery/ Sandra Maletin, Bradley
The Barbery/Maletin pairing completed the best season by a No. 1 doubles team in The Valley this season by winning both of their matches in tie-breakers Saturday against Drake and Sunday versus UNI … The duo helped Bradley secure the doubles point in its first-ever victory against Drake by pulling out a 7-6 (1) decision Saturday … Barbery/Maletin followed with a 7-6 (4) victory Sunday against UNI to finish 4-1 in league play … The duo is 12-12 overall for the season, 9-7 in dual matches as the No. 1 pairing, and now is tied for sixth in Bradley history with 26 all-time wins together.
Carmen Palumbo/ Daria Walczak, Drake
The duo went 1-1 last week as they defeated Bozana Lojpur/Nikki Perlwitz of Bradley 6-2 in the No. 2 doubles match and lost to Veronika Golanova/Tara Damnjanovic of Illinois State 6-1 in the No. 1 match. The pair are 15-12 overall this season.
Alye Darter/ Ellie Burger, Missouri State
No. 1 pair Ellie Burger and Alye Darter were the lone doubles victors for the Bears in their league finale, blanking their Valparaiso opponents 6-0. The win moved the pair up to 2-1 overall in the No. 1 position.
Meg Modesto/ Randi Wind, Valparaiso
This pair of Valpo seniors bounced back from a gut-wrenching 7-6(5) defeat on Wednesday at Chicago State to capture a convincing 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles against Missouri Valley Conference foe Missouri State on Saturday. The victory over Fati Khamissi and Phoebe Boeschen helped the Valpo pair close out the home portion of their careers in style and allowed Valpo to win the doubles point on Senior Day.