PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Tennis closes February and opens March with a pair of home matches, hosting Northern Illinois and Kansas City at Parkside Fitness.
MATCH INFORMATION – HOME VS NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Where: Parkside Fitness – Pekin, Ill.
When: Friday, February 27 – 5:00 p.m.
MATCH INFORMATION – HOME VS KANSAS CITY
Where: Parkside Fitness – Pekin, Ill.
When: Sunday, March 1 – 10:00 a.m.
PREVIEWING THE HUSKIES
The Northern Illinois Huskies are 10-2 on the season and have won five straight matches, all in February. Most recently, Northern Illinois wrapped up a three-match homestand with a 4-2 victory over Saint Louis on Sunday, Feb. 15. NIU will be playing its first true road match since Feb. 6, when it defeated Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, 6-1.
This will be the 18th consecutive season the Braves and Huskies have faced each other in a dual match. Northern Illinois has won the last four in the series, with three of those coming in DeKalb. This includes last season’s matchup, when the Huskies won 7-0 on March 1. The Braves are 4-1 in the last five matches between the two programs in Peoria, dating to 2016.
The Huskies have four players with at least seven wins during the dual season, headlined by sophomore Irmak Budak, who is 8-3 on court one this season. Sophomore Lucia Yecora and senior Nataly Ninova each have nine victories, primarily on courts three and four, while senior Jenna Horne has seven wins on courts five and six. In doubles, the pair of Ninova and freshman Malika Kabdesh is 6-2 on court one.
PREVIEWING THE ROOS
The Kansas City Roos have played only five matches this season, dropping the first four before defeating Missouri State in Springfield, 4-3, on Feb. 21. Kansas City was swept by Kansas and Nebraska and narrowly fell to Creighton and Drake in Des Moines before its victory over Missouri State. The Roos will face off against Northern Illinois at Parkside Fitness on Saturday, Feb. 28, prior to their match versus Bradley on March 1.
This will be the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Braves and Roos have been scheduled to play each other. A matchup was scheduled for last season on Feb. 22, but it was called off. Bradley won the last match played between the two sides, winning 4-3 on Feb. 25, 2024, at Parkside Fitness.
Kansas City has four singles players with two wins during the dual season, including sophomore Alessandra Xibilia, who has two wins on court two. In doubles, only two teams have wins in 2026: Catherine Chrobak/Amal Gati and Sophie Marshman/Alisa Reznik, who got their wins on courts two and three against Missouri State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Braves split their matches in Michigan, defeating Oakland, 4-2, on Thursday, Feb. 19, and falling to Eastern Michigan on Friday, Feb. 20. Ruby Tseng and Mariia Pukhina both won all four matches they played, winning both of their doubles matches as a pair and going 2-0 on singles courts two and three. The duo of Anna Belogliadova and Compassion Tsai also won both of their doubles matches as a pair in the late-week matches.
COMING UP…
Bradley begins a five-match stretch of road matches next weekend, traveling to Milwaukee for matches against Marquette and Milwaukee on March 6-7.
