McLean County Times

Illinois State University's women's tennis team secured a dramatic 4-3 victory over the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in the MVC Tennis Championship semifinal on Saturday. The decisive win came from Nuria Sanz, who triumphed in a three-set match at the No. 5 spot, propelling the Redbirds to the championship title match against top-seeded Murray State.

Reflecting on the performance, ISU head coach Maja Kovacek commented, "Today was a total team win. We didn't start the match well in doubles, but we did good job moving on from that and starting the singles playing very aggressive." She acknowledged UIC's resilience and praised Sanz for her composure under pressure, stating, "Nuria did a fantastic job in the third set playing composed and aggressive at the right times."

The match began with UIC gaining an early lead by winning at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions. However, ISU quickly recovered during singles play as Lana Caculovic defeated Tamara Malazonia 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, followed by Tijana Zlatanovic's victory over Agnes Gustafsson with scores of 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1.

Sofia Rodrigo further extended ISU's lead by overcoming Anais Brion with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. Despite this advantage, UIC fought back to tie the match through victories at No. 3 and No. 4 singles positions.

The outcome rested on Sanz's shoulders as she faced Zara Ryan in a tense battle on court No. 5. After splitting tiebreakers in the first two sets, Sanz clinched victory with a decisive third set score of 6-3.

The final score was Illinois State (4), UIC (3), setting up ISU to face Murray State for the championship title.