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Redbirds to Take On New Mexico State, Wichita State
April 11, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State men's tennis team seeks to break its two-match skid this weekend when it faces New Mexico State on Saturday, April 12, at 2:30 p.m., and conference-foe Wichita State on Sunday, April 13, at 10:30 a.m. The matches were originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. respectively, to accommodate the move to an indoor facility. Coming off losses to No. 51 Drake and DePaul at home last weekend, April 5-6, head coach Cris James expects his team to improve its performance. "I expect us to come out and play better than we did last weekend," said James. "We need to have all five guys playing well. I expect we will be better prepared. Before the Drake and DePaul matches, we took a couple days off to try to get healthy. This week we got back to practicing hard. Overall, we need to get back to being mentally tough. We cannot let things like wind bother us and get outside of our comfort zone." In singles the Redbirds (9-6, 2-1 MVC) will look to get back to the style of play that helped them capture nine of 10 matches before falling to Drake and DePaul. Junior Daniel Tobar currently leads the team with nine singles wins and is trailed by senior Luka Marinkovic who has eight. In doubles, the Redbirds have been strong this season with a 26-14 (.650) overall mark. However, due to injuries to senior Oscar Biech and sophomore Xavier Riart-Ferrer the doubles lineup has changed frequently throughout the season. Illinois State has still put a winning duo in the No. 1 position, claiming 10 of 15 matches on the season. New Mexico State (10-5) comes into the Saturday match riding a four-match winning streak. In singles, the Aggies have three players tied for the team lead with nine wins, and two more with eight. Sophomore Gustave Diep should pace the Aggies, he is 8-5 at the No. 1 position. In doubles, sophomore Eduardo Salas and junior Roman Stoisavljevic lead the Aggies with their 8-5 dual match record including a 5-4 mark at the No. 1 doubles position.
Wichita State (13-3, 2-0 MVC) comes into the match tied with Drake for first place in the Missouri Valley standings. In singles, the Shockers are led by senior Thiago Dos Santos who is 14-1 in dual match play this season, including a 13-1 mark at the No. 3 singles position. In doubles, Wichita will be counting on the duo of senior Albert Ballesta and Dos Santos. The senior tandem currently is 13-2 overall and 13-1 from the No. 2 doubles position. The last time the Illinois State men's tennis team met these two schools it came away with a 4-3 win while hosting Wichita State April 15, 2007, but was defeated by New Mexico State, 6-1, Feb. 24, 2002. |
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