The Illinois State women’s tennis team is set for two away matches this weekend. The Redbirds, who have a 6-2 record and are on a six-match winning streak, will play Lipscomb in Nashville on Saturday and Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) in Cape Girardeau on Sunday.
Illinois State recently secured victories over Butler and the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS). Freshman Vittoria Benedetti contributed to these wins by remaining undefeated in singles play this spring, improving her record to 7-0. She won against Butler’s Sophie Parr with scores of 7-5, 6-2 and defeated UIS’ Niamh Grogan 6-2, 6-2. Benedetti also competes in doubles matches for the Redbirds.
The No. 2 doubles team of Nuria Sanz and Nicole Iosio had a strong showing last week as well. They beat Butler’s Sienna Miles and Jordan Schildcrout 6-0, helping Illinois State secure the doubles point in a close 4-3 team win. Later, they defeated UIS’ Alisha Deogaonkar and Maria Garcia Gama 6-1 during a match that ended with a 7-0 sweep for the Redbirds. The pair has now won three out of their last four matches this month.
Lipscomb enters Saturday’s contest with an even record of three wins and three losses but has dropped its last three matches to East Tennessee State, Vanderbilt (ranked No. 28), and Xavier. In their most recent outing, Lipscomb lost to Xavier by a score of 7-0 at home. Despite the loss, Mariia Dolzhenko and Serafima Bobrovnikova claimed a doubles victory against Xavier’s Madeleine Rexroat and Ella DeFord with a score of 6-1.
Southeast Missouri State currently holds a record of five wins and eight losses this season. The Redhawks played against Harvard—ranked No. 73—for the first time last weekend but were defeated 7-0. They then lost to Memphis by a score of 4-0; however, Yontha Tadoum managed to win her opening set before the match concluded early due to Memphis securing enough points for victory. SEMO will host its first home match of the season against Illinois State at the John C. Bierk Redhawks Tennis Complex, where it has achieved a strong home record since the start of the 2021–22 season.
Illinois State Redbirds benefit from resources such as the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund, which supports competitiveness and recruitment efforts within their athletic programs. The university is linked to Illinois State University and provides news updates, schedules, rosters, fan resources, as well as access to facilities like the OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center for student-athlete preparation (source). The program competes in NCAA Division I events across various regions (source).
For more information about tickets or updates regarding Illinois State athletics programs—including women’s tennis—fans can visit GoRedbirds.com or use the official Illinois State Redbirds app.
