NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Redbirds women’s tennis team begins its fall season this weekend, hosting the redbird Duals at the Illinois State Tennis Courts. Competition starts Saturday at 10:00 a.m. with a round of doubles matches.
The Redbird Duals will serve as an early-season gauge for the ISU program, providing valuable competition against Bradley, Saint Louis University, and Western Illinois before facing conference opponents later in the year. “It will be really good to see how we stack up early in the year before we face them later in the season,” said a team representative.
This year’s team returns a strong core of players,including three All-Missouri Valley Conference honorees from last season: Nicole iosio (All-MVC First Team singles at No. 5), Sophie Marie Lowe (All-MVC Second Team singles at no. 6), and Emma Lindh, who earned All-MVC First Team accolades in doubles with partner Elena Jankulovska at No. 2.Illinois State reached the semifinals of the 2023 MVC Championships, falling to eventual champion UIC.
Redbird Duals Schedule:
Saturday:
* 9:00 a.m.: Warm-ups
* 10:00 a.m.: Doubles #1 – ISU vs. Bradley, SLU vs. WIU
* 11:00 a.m.: Singles #1 – ISU vs. SLU, WIU vs. Bradley
* 1:30 p.m.: Singles #2 – ISU vs. WIU,SLU vs. Bradley
Sunday:
* 9:00 a.m.: Warm-ups
* 10:00 a.m.: Doubles #2 – ISU vs. SLU, WIU vs. Bradley
* 10:45 a.m.: Doubles #3 – ISU vs. WIU, SLU vs. Bradley
* 12:30 p.m.: Singles #3 – ISU vs.Bradley, WIU vs. SLU
Matches will be played with one set to 6 for doubles and best-of-three sets for singles, including a match tiebreak for the third set if necessary.
Following the Redbird Duals, ISU will host the three-day Redbird Invitational (Sept. 26-28) and compete at the ITA Regionals in Champaign, Ill. (Oct. 16-19). The spring dual-meet season begins in January, leading up to the 2026 MVC Women’s Tennis Championships, April 24-26, hosted by UIC.
