Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's tennis to take on Illinois State and Bradley
04/07/2016 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
By Drew Hoffman
SIUSalukis.com
NORMAL, Ill.- The Southern Illinois University women's tennis team is set to play Illinois State late Friday, and Bradley on Saturday. The Salukis are currently 1-0 in conference play, beating Evansville 7-0 last weekend. SIU is 9-9 on the season overall.
The Redbirds currently sport a 10-7 record, and hold a 1-0 conference record. The win came from their match against Bradley last weekend, beating the Braves, 5-2. ISU is on a two-match winning streak, and has a 7-1 home record. Bradley is currently 9-9 overall on the season and 0-1 in the MVC. The Braves are winners of two of their last three matches.
"We are back strong; we have all our players back and healthy," SIU head coach Audra Anderson said. "Both of these clubs [ISU and Bradley] are solid. We're going to be neck and neck in both matches. I like our chances playing indoors against them, and I think both matches are up there for our toughest conference matches this year."
Last season SIU played both opponents in Carbondale and won both matches, 6-1 against Bradley, and 5-2 against Illinois State. Anderson believes that both programs are highly competitive this season, and thinks this will be the toughest Bradley squad she will have faced in her tenure at SIU.
The Salukis have played well against Bradley in recent years, winning the last 10 matches against the Braves. The Salukis are even with ISU, on the other hand, splitting the last ten matches, 5-5.
Last week's message to the Salukis was, 'It's a new season'. Anderson stressed how everything changes when conference play starts, and what they have to do to be successful.
"I think this is one of the best teams I've ever coached. This team needs to grind this weekend. This is the time of year that you have to do whatever you have to do to win," Anderson said.
The Salukis will play ISU in Normal at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and the Braves on Saturday at 10 a.m., pending the weather.
