The Illinois State mens tennis team lost a crucial match against conference foe Drake on Saturday, that has huge implications for the regular season standings. Despite dominating play from Alban Renard at the No. 6 singles position the Birds (7-7, 1-1) still fell to the Bulldogs 4-3.
Renard, who has not lost a singles match since March 12, came out firing for the Redbirds and dropped his opponent Dave Iancu in straight sets (6-2, 6-1).
Despite the loss, head coach Greg Kennett was pleased with the effort from Renard.
Alban has played solid for us all year, said Kennett. He did a nice job for us today we are very proud of his efforts.
Unfortunately the Birds did not get the same kind of effort from its top position players. Djordje Uskokovic fell at the No. 1 singles position in straight sets to Sergi Vila (6-0, 6-1). At the No. 2 position, Guillermo Gomez dropped his match to Dalibor Pavic (6-2, 6-3), and at the No. 3 position Luka Marinkovic fell to Jonathan Tishler (6-3, 7-6).
Kennett was displeased with their efforts.
I am very disappointed in the way we played today, said Kennett. We didnt fight hard and we continue to lose close matches.
Even though the singles play was not up to par, the Birds managed to capture the doubles point due to the strong play of Gomez and Renard. The duo dropped Tishler and Vila (9-8), at the No. 2 position, while Alfredo Lagarda and Marinkovic dropped Chris Lueth and Iancu (8-3) at the No. 3 position.
The Birds will be back in action on Sunday, when they face Creighton in Omaha at 10 a.m.
