The second meeting of the season between the Illinois State mens tennis team and Drake provided the same score, but a totally different outcome for the Birds. Due to the solid play of Alfredo Lagarda at the No. 5 singles position, the Redbirds beat Drake, 4-3 Friday at the Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center to advance to the second round of the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships.
With the match knotted up at three points apiece, Lagarda and Chris Lueth were the only players left to battle it out for the final point. Lagarda knew that the fate of the Birds season came down to his play and he would not disappoint. The sophomore downed Lueth in straight sets (6-2, 7-5) to lead the Redbirds to victory and a match up with No. 1 seeded Indiana State on Saturday. Lagarda improved his overall singles season record to 19-12.
Head coach Greg Kennett was glad that Lagarda did not crumble under the pressure.
Alfredo was so tough mentally today, said Kennett. He didnt have his best game but he played well enough to win.
The match started with doubles play were the Birds would not be denied. At the No. 1 position, Djordje Uskokovic and Ben Pettinari downed Lueth and Jack Frankowicz (8-3), and at the No. 2 position Guillermo Gomez and Alban Renard dropped Dado Pavic and Jon Tishler (8-5). The match up at the No. 3 position was stopped with the duo of Tim Link and Luka Marinkovic leading (6-5) because the Redbirds had already won the point.
Kennett believes that the doubles play set the tone for the match.
Our strong play started in doubles, said Kennett. Guillermo and Alban really played well together today. They were able to break their opponents serve to help them win out the match.
The singles action started of shaky for the Birds who dropped the No. 1 thru the No. 3 positions. However, Marinkovic dropped Frankowicz (7-6, (4), 6-4) at the No. 4 position and Renard won his 11th straight when he downed Dave Iancu (6-0, 6-1). With Lagardas win at the No. 5 spot, the Birds slid by with a 4-3 win.
The Birds will be back in action Saturday when they face Indiana State in the second round of the MVC Team Championships at 1 p.m. To follow tomorrows match go to Creightons website at www.gocreighton.com and click on the MVC Championship link. Scores will be updated hourly, or when individual matches are complete.
