With two singles and doubles wins on Saturday, Ciaran Foley led the Illinois State mens tennis team to victories over St. Louis and Creighton in St. Louis, Missouri. With the wins, the Redbirds improve to 6-8 in dual match play and 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
At No. 3 singles, Foley defeated Tom de Larzar of St. Louis 7-6, 6-2, and Pierre-Marc Villeneuve of Creighton 4-6, 6-4 (12-10). With the victories, he improved his spring record to 10-8. Also, Foley and Marek Blaskovic won two matches at No. 3 doubles to improve their spring record to 2-0.
Ciaran really showed up and played well for us today, said coach Greg Kennett, who was pleased with Foleys performance.
Also playing well for the Redbirds was Ricky Heath and Ben Pettinari. Both Heath and Pettinari won two singles matches to improve their spring records to 10-6 and 7-11 respectively. In addition, the two teamed up for a victory at No. 1 doubles to improve their spring record to 2-2.
Ben played really well in his singles matches today, said Kennett, who is looking for more consistency from his freshman. It will be a great boost for us if Ciaran and Ben can continue to win in the middle of our lineup.
Overall, Kennett was extremely pleased with the way his team played against the Billikens and the Bluejays.
I thought the guys came out with great intensity, especially in their doubles matches, said Kennett. Its good to get a couple of wins, and especially a conference win.
The Redbirds will return to action on Friday, April 5 when they host Northern Iowa in Normal, Illinois.
