In the last weekend of the regular season, the Illinois State mens tennis team won its first of three matches in convincing fashion, sweeping Bradley, 7-0, Friday at McCormick Courts.
The No. 1 doubles tandem of Ricky Heath and Ben Pettinari defeated Bradleys Marijon Panzic and Paul Craigen, 8-2, while Jason Smit and Andy Martin beat Bret Martin and Mark Muskievicz by the same score at the No. 2 spot.
In singles play, Heath edged Craigen at No. 1 (7-5, 6-3) while Smit was taken into a tie-breaking set by Muskievicz before coming away with the win (4-6, 6-0 (10-4)). At No. 3, Ciaran Foley used two sets to upend Bret Martin (6-2, 6-2).
Pettinaris match at No. 4 with Panzic also went an additional set, with Pettinari coming away with the victory (6-2, 5-7 (10-6)). Junior Marek Balskovic, who has won six of his last seven, added another win to his record with a 6-0, 6-2 win against BUs Scott Roebuck. Alim Mambetov gets credit for the win at No. 6 after a default by Bradleys Mike Walz.
Our doubles teams looked good today, Redbird coach Greg Kennett said. Its always good to beat Bradley. This is a good warm-up for our matches with Southern Illinois tomorrow and Evansville on Sunday.
The Birds hit the road to play at Southern Illinois, Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a match at Evansville on Sunday.
