Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Illinois State University Athletics

Men's Tennis Concludes WMU Invite

Oct. 15, 2005

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Juniors Alfredo Lagarda and Yohann Nograbat completed the Western Michigan Invitational undefeated in singles. The Illinois State men's tennis squad competed against Western Michigan and Toledo in singles at the West Hills Athletic Club on Saturday. Nograbat won both matches at the No. 1 position, while Lagarda won at the No. 5 position against Western Michigan and defeated Toledo at the No. 6.

Nograbat came off his first loss in doubles the night before and was determined for victory on the second day of the tournament. Head coach Greg Kennett was impressed with Nograbat's abilities.

"Yohann's down strokes were moving well and he played solid," said Kennett. "He beat two talented players today, which should boost his confidence. He had a good day."

Kennett was also pleased with Lagarda's efforts.

"Alfredo did a nice job today, he won both of his matches," said Kennett. "He is becoming more comfortable with on the court."

Kennett changed his typical line-up against Western Michigan and Toledo. An experienced squad with interchangeable players makes it difficult to decide what line-up should look like. Senior Djordje Uskokovic, one of the leaders for the Redbird squad, played at a lower position on the second day of the tournament.

"I know what Djordje can do. So I decided to play some of the other guys ahead of him to see how they would react," said Kennett. "I wanted to see if they could get any victories at a higher position and find out how well they handled the pressure."

This gave coach an opportunity to experiment for the upcoming regional tournament which begins October 20. With the tournament less that a week away Kennett wants to take advantage of every chance to improve his players and the teams odds for regionals.

"This was definitely a good prep for the regionals next week," said Kennett. "We will use this tournament as a reference, so we can go back this week in practice and breakdown some aspects of our game to see what we can improve."

The Redbirds will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday October 20 for the NCAA Regional Championships.

-###-

Print Friendly Version