Lady Redbirds tennis in action Sunday against UIC

NORMAL, Ill. — A Sunday match in Chicago awaits Illinois State Redbirds as they head north to take on the Flames of the University of Illinois at Chicago with the first serve set for 1 p.m.

The Redbirds have a 4-2 start to the spring 2022 campaign. Illinois State swept UIS, Chicago State, and IUPUI two weeks ago. They suffered a loss at the hands of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign last Sunday. The loss marked their first since getting swept by Iowa State on January 22.

For the second week in a row, an Illinois State doubles team took home conference weekly honors. Penelope Abreu and Alexandra Abyasova were named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Doubles Team of the Week. Moreover, the honor was for their win against the Fighting Illini.

Abreu and Abyasova came up big for the Redbirds, as the duo combined to win the lone match for ISU with a 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot. With the victory, the duo is now 2-0 this spring when teaming together.

UIC is 3-1 in dual meets this season, having won its last two matches against MVC foe Bradley and against Eastern Michigan on Friday.

Strong play at the top of the singles lineup propelled Flames to the 4-3 win over Eastern Michigan, after the Eagles won the doubles point. However, the Flames stormed back with three straight wins on the singles courts.

The Flames’ top three singles players all won their matches, including a three-set victory by Tamara Malazonia that clinched the team win.

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