Illinois State head womens tennis coach Chris Hoover patiently waited for a telephone call that he didnt receive until Friday to see if the doubles team of Alesia Mikalayeva and Liina Suurvarik were going to participate in the 2002 NCAA Championships in Palo Alto, Calif., on Monday. The call came ... and the Birds are in.
Designated as second alternates, the duo of Mikalayeva and Suurvarik will look to continue an already storied career. The tandem led the Redbirds to an NCAA Tournament bid in 2001 and as a pair advanced to the quarterfinals of the Omni Hotels National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship.
Hoover was elated that his doubles team made the field of 32 teams.
Were obviously excited about the opportunity, but its a situation where we felt we should have been in from the start, Hoover said. We tried the best we could to prepare ourselves for a curveball like this, but we werent expecting the call this late. At this point we just need to get out there and get Alesia and Liina hitting again.
As a team, Mikalayeva and Suurvarik finished the season with a 29-6 record, all at the No. 1 doubles position. The Redbird team was also ranked No. 1 in the Midwest Region. Both were named to the 2002 All-Missouri Valley Conference teams in both singles and doubles.
Not being an automatic selection to the field could prove to be inspiration for the Redbird team.
I think we will definitely use this opportunity to our advantage, Hoover added. In fact, I think it might work out better this way because both Alesia and Liina are ready to go out there and rip it. They just want to show everyone that they belonged out there in the first place.
