University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Belmont
UNI tennis prepares to honor seniors ahead of final dual against Belmont
4/19/2024 9:53:00 AM | Women's Tennis
UNI tennis (3-15 / 0-7 MVC) vs. Belmont (10-9 / 3-3 MVC)
- 9 a.m. CT
- Black Hawk Tennis Club
- Waterloo, Iowa
Â
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI tennis will round out the 2023-24 season on Saturday morning as it welcomes the Belmont Bruins to the Cedar Valley for the final dual meet of the year. Competition will begin at 9 a.m. CT at the Black Hawk Tennis Club in Waterloo.
The Panthers will honor their two graduating seniors in Andrijana Brkic and Issa Sullivan prior to the start of the meet.
Brkic, a Belegrade, Serbia native and three-year player for Northern Iowa, has compiled a 43-30 career singles record for the Panthers, notably earning Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) All-Select Team honors in 2022-23 after posting a 25-9 singles mark.
Sullivan, a native of Shawnee, Kansas native and four-year player, has found most of her collegiate career success in doubles with 29 career wins, including a career-high 15 doubles victories in 2022-23, including eight wins with her partner Thaissa Moreira. Sullivan earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Team Honorable Mention status as a sophomore in 2022, and was selected to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team, MVC Honor Roll and ITA Scholar-Athlete Team last season.
The Panthers look to close the season on a high note after dropping their last eight duals, including a 7-0 loss to Illinois State and 6-1 loss to Bradley last weekend at home. Darta Dalecka leads the way for the purple and gold into the season's final meet with a team-high 14 singles wins, followed by Brkic's 12. In doubles, the duo of Lorena Cardoso and Dalecka lead the Panthers with seven wins.
Belmont meanwhile comes to town amid a two-meet skid, seeking to secure the sixth and final spot at next week's MVC Team Championships. The Bruins fell on April 7 in their last road dual at UIC by a 5-2 score before falling to Murray State last Saturday also by a 5-2 score. Belmont is also scheduled to play at Drake on Sunday in the regular season finale.
The Bruins are led by a pair of 20-match winners in singles in Vesa Gjinaj and Mariia Hlahola, while the pairing of Hlahola and Anastasiya Zholdakova have posted a 20-9 record in doubles this season.
Players Mentioned
