Oct. 18, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
NORMAL, Ill. - Senior Alban Renard and juniors Luka Marinkovic and Yohann Nograbat will compete in the main draw at the NCAA Region V Individual Tournament hosted by of Tulsa this weekend. The rest of the Illinois State men's tennis squad will compete in a qualifying tournament on Thursday in order to earn their way into the main draw which begins the next day. The `Birds will compete in Tulsa, Okla. for five days, October 20-24.
The NCAA Region V Individual Tournament is played individually in both singles and doubles. Renard and Nograbat will represent the Redbird squad in the singles main draw. Renard will also play in the doubles main draw, pairing with Marinkovic. Head coach Greg Kennett is excited to see the two compete for the doubles title.
"I am confident in Alban and Luka," said Kennett. "They are going to be great representatives for our team."
The top eight finishes, in the qualifying tournament on Thursday, will be entered into the singles main draw on Friday. The athletes in the main draw will be sent to the consolation round after only one loss. The consolation round will count towards the athletes' rankings. Kennett has been making adjustments in practice to prepare the Redbirds for the weekend.
"We talked about our serves and how we need to keep them as weapons throughout a match," said Kennett. "As matches have progressed, our serves have slowed down and we don't push our serves as hard as we need to."
The tournament will conclude the `Birds fall season. This fall the men's tennis team compiled three individual titles and one team title. Kennett has high expectations for his players this weekend.
"I would like to see a good win over a top player during this tournament. That would really get our team's confidence up," said Kennett. "We need something like that to happen. We have the talent to do it, we just need someone to step up and play."
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