Feb. 9, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State (0-2) is on the road again in hopes of driving down the competition in Indianapolis. The Redbirds will face Butler and IUPUI this weekend, and ISU head coach Chris Hoover and the team are hungry to earn their first wins of the season.
Since Hoover joined ISU as head coach in 1994, the Redbirds have held an undefeated record against both schools. However, the `Birds know not to underestimate the competition and to play hard for every win.
"Even though Butler is 0-5, they have a strong line-up in early singles," said Hoover. "We have not lost to Butler since I have been coaching here, but you can't take anybody lightly or for granted. We have to fight for every win we can get."
In addition to the Butler match, the `Birds will also deal with the 0-2 Jaguars of IUPUI.
"I expect to win, but we have to work hard," said Hoover. "Again, we are going to have to battle for every win."
To help prepare for victory, Hoover has put junior Matea Simovic at No. 6 singles to compete against Butler. Simovic played her last singles match at the No. 7 position at Illinois, where she played competitively against the No. 48 ranked team. Hoover has been impressed with Simovic's recent performances and thinks she will be successful.
"I anticipate that Matea will do well," said Hoover. "No one has really played that great in No. 6 singles, and I think Matea will play hard to earn a win for us."
Hoover emphasizes that the most important component to a winning line-up is hard work on the courts. Whether more changes in the line-up occur depends on how the team competes at Butler.
The first of this weekend's matches is Friday against Butler at 2:30 p.m. Illinois State will then face IUPUI on Saturday at 5 p.m.
