In its last two appearances at the Ball State Invitational, one member of the Illinois State mens tennis team has come away with an individual championship. This weekend, the Birds will be look to keep their winning ways in tact as they open their fall season at the Ball State Invitational in Muncie, Ind.
Last year, Guillermo Gomez took home the D Flight championship in his first tournament as a Redbird. His performance followed a B Flight championship win from teammate Djorde Uskokovic in 2002, which was the teams first Ball State title win in school history.
Head coach Greg Kennett sees no reason why his team cannot come away with another win this year.
There are a couple guys who have a real shot at winning their flights, Kennett said, We also have a very good shot at winning a doubles title this year, which is something we have never done.
The 17-team field includes two Missouri Valley Conference opponents, Bradley and Indiana State. The rest of the teams competing include the host school Ball State, Butler, Cleveland State, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Louisville, Marquette, Northern Illinois, Saint Louis, Toledo, Valparaiso, Western Michigan, Wright State and Xavier.
The Birds open play Friday at 8:30 a.m. at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center, with first round doubles competition followed by first round singles matches. Play on Saturday and Sunday will also start at 8:30 a.m. each morning
The tournament is broken down into four flights of singles with 32 draws each and four flights of doubles with 16 draws each. Both the main and consolation draw championships are scheduled for Sunday.
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