Box Score

WICHITA, Kan. – In the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships, No. 4 Illinois State earned a 4-0 win over the University of Evansville women’s tennis team on Friday morning at the Wichita Country Club.
 
Moved indoors due to inclement weather, Illinois State got on the board early, taking the doubles point.  Emmie Marx and Stefanie Youngberg topped Kelsey Costales and Emily Richardson by an 8-3 final while Carolina Abello and Heather Nisbet topped Gaby Fifer and Marina Moreno, 8-3.  In No. 1 doubles Natasha James and Marketa Trousilova were leading 5-4 over Phyllis Tigges and Kadi Ilves before being called when the Redbirds clinched the point.
 
Singles also went ISU’s way.  For just the second time in league play, Trousilova fell at second flight singles as she fell to Tigges, 6-2, 6-3.  Moreno lost to Abello in group three, 6-3, 6-2 while Ilves topped Mina Milovic in the fourth slot, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the match.  At top singles, James and Marx were in the third set when the match was called due to Illinois State clinching the win.
 
Evansville wraps up the season with a 10-11 mark but has a very bright future ahead.  This year, UE had just one junior with the rest being freshman and sophomores.  UE has an extremely solid foundation for the coming years, led by Fifer, James and Trousilova.  Each produced at an extremely high level, combining four 36 singles victories this season.
 
All-Conference members James and Trousilova were dominant at No. 1 doubles as they rolled through the year with a 16-3 record.  That included a 6-1 showing in seven MVC matches in 2013.