After bringing home three titles at last years Missouri Valley Conference tournament, the Illinois State womens tennis team enters this weekends MVC Individual Championships with a sense of respect.
You cant go into anything in conference, whether its a dual match or a tournament without having respect for the other teams and their players, head coach Chris Hoover said. The air is different and anybody can beat anybody, were all that close. At the same time, though, I dont think we should have fear.
Two players on the Redbird roster, seniors Zana Friganovic and Brigette Zarazee, will compete for the triple crown, as both have won two previous titles. Each was involved with a doubles title last year while Friganovic earned a doubles title in 1998 and Zarazee won No. 7 singles in 1997.
This weekend marks the first competition Liina Suurvarik, a freshman hailing from Tallinn, Estonia, will compete in. She is of the same caliber as All-Missouri Valley Conference pick Alesia Mikalayeva.
We recruit to be in a position to win, Hoover added. With the addition of Liina Suurvarik, I cant help but think were not in a position to be successful.
The Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships begin Friday morning and continue through Sunday afternoon at Southwest Missouri States Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.
