Jan. 29, 2006
Final Stats
DES MOINES, Iowa - Illinois State took home three titles from the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Individuals Tournament Sunday afternoon. Luka Marinkovic led the men's tennis team by winning two titles, one at the No. 5 singles position and another with teammate Daniel Tobar at the No. 3 spot in doubles play. Alfredo Lagarda also added a singles title from the No. 7 singles slot.
Marinkovic won the singles title match in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 over Thiago Dos Santos of Wichita State. Marinkovic remains undefeated this spring at 5-0 and has yet to be challenged to a third match by any of his opponents. All five of his wins have been in straight sets. In doubles action, Marinkovic teamed up with Tobar to win the doubles title 9-8 (7) making it Tobar's first title as a Redbird.
"Luka plays with a lot of emotion and enthusiasm. I am very proud of his efforts today," said head coach Greg Kennett. "He played smart and played well on points that counted. I think it's great that he is playing as well as he is."
Djordje Uskokovic dropped his first singles match of the season in the No. 3 singles title (6-1, 6-2) and is now 5-1 overall. Oscar Beich also fell in the No. 4 title match 6-4, 6-4. Beich now owns a 3-1 singles record. Alban Renard also fell short in the No. 1 singles title match (6-2, 6-2) giving him a 3-2 singles record this spring.
"I think in general we just made too many errors. I don't know if we were too pumped up or too excited," said Kennett. "Overall it was a great weekend. We had a chance to show teams in the Valley that we are pretty good."
Even with the three conference titles, the men's tennis team still needs to make some adjustments for future matches.
"We need to work on playing smarter and learning how to take advantage of different situations," said Kennett. "I think we can be more consistent. Another part we need to improve on is our doubles play. We have to find doubles teams that work well together because it's going to be a crucial part of the game as the spring goes on."
The `Birds compete again February 3-5 in New Mexico.
