April 29, 2006
Final Stats
DES MOINES, Iowa. -
In the second round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships, the Illinois State men's tennis squad outlasted Missouri State in a 4-2 match on Saturday morning. The Redbirds, now 17-6, advance to the finals at Noon on Sunday, April 30 in the Drake Tennis Center.
"It was a great college tennis match," said head coach Greg Kennett about the semifinal match against MSU. "Missouri State didn't give up or leave us much room for error."
To start the match, the Redbirds won the doubles point over the Bears. Luka Marinkovic and Daniel Tobar were successful once again at the No. 3 doubles position. The duo dropped MSU's Rodrigo Borges and Marcos Queiroz 8-5 for their seventeenth win together. Alban Renard and Oscar Beich came out strong with an 8-5 win over Jiri Spousta and John Kellert of the Bears.
Kennett was glad to see Illinois State's success in doubles.
"We came out and played some of the best doubles so far this season," said Kennett. "I was really proud of Alban and Oscar and Luka and Daniel continued to play hot."
The singles competition was heated according to Kennett.
"When we got to singles it was just a battle," said Kennett. "Luka was solid for us like he has been which was great. Then Oscar got his game going and made a come back, he had a competitive attitude out there."
All three singles match points came from the lower half of the lineup. Djordje Uskokovic defeated Queiroz at the No. 3 position, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while Beich contributed a singles match point from the No. 5 spot after a come from behind win over Jeff Stone in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 match. Marinkovic also won at the No. 6 slot in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3 over Borges.
Kennett is eager to compete in finals on Sunday.
"It's a fantastic opportunity that we have been talking about a long time," said Kennett. "We have to stay focused on finishing this season strong."
