A day after defeating Southwest Missouri State to improve to 4-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Illinois State mens tennis team fell to Wichita State 5-2 in Wichita, Kansas. With the loss, the Redbirds drop to third place in the Valley, while the Schockers take over sole possession of second place.
Leading the way for the Redbirds were Marek Blaskovic and Ricky Heath. Blaskovic held on to defeat Juan Escalante (6-2, 2-6, 6-1) at No. 6 singles to improve his spring record to 12-10. In addition, Blaskovic and teammate Ciaran Foley defeated Ben Cramp and Escalante (8-5) at No. 3 doubles to improve their spring record to 6-1. Heath, who has won seven of his last eight singles matches, easily defeated Carlo Contente (6-3, 6-1) at the No. 1 spot to improve his spring record to 14-7.
Both Marek and Rick won matches for us today, which is the most important thing, said Kennett. They are probably the two players who are most mentally strong for us right now.
Despite the performances of Blaskovic and Heath, coach Kennett was disappointed with the way his team played against the Schockers.
They were just better than us today, said Kennett. We certainly had the opportunities to win the match today and just didnt capitalize.
The Redbirds (9-9 overall, 4-2 Valley) will return to action on Saturday, April 20, at 10 a.m. against Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Illinois. Following, the Redbirds will take on Evansville on Sunday, April 21, at 10 a.m. in Evansville, Indiana.
