After taking the doubles point the Illinois State mens tennis team (4-6, 1-0) seemed poised to snap a two match losing streak, but the Redbirds dropped four out of six singles matches, and fell to Northern Illinois 4-3, Friday, in Rockford, Ill.
Djordje Uskokovic and Guillermo Gomez got the afternoon on the right foot for the Birds by taking the No. 1 doubles spot over Northern Illinois Juan Pablo Barriga and Erick Martinez, 8-5. Alban Renard and Tim Link sealed the doubles point for the Birds by beating Jack Komar and Stephen Guntly in the No. 3 position, 9-8.
Despite the impressive showing in the doubles competition the Birds were unable to carry their momentum into singles play.
Alfredo Lagarda and Gomez were the lone bright spots for the Birds in the singles competition. Lagarda picked up his third win in a row in the No. 6 spot by defeating Guntly, 7-5, 6-4, and Gomez improved his team best singles win total to 11 by taking the No. 4 spot over Komar, 6-4, 6-3.
Head coach Greg Kennett feels that the Birds need to get tougher mentally if they expect to improve as the season progresses.
We just have to get tougher overall mentally so that we can handle the pressure at the end of matches, Kennett said. We have three freshmen playing right now who are unexperienced and have not had to deal with the sort of pressures they are feeling on the court.
The Redbirds return to action Saturday against Vincennes, at 7:30 p.m., at the Evergreen Racquetclub, in Bloomington, Ill.
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