Sept. 17, 2006
MUNCIE, Ind. -
After three long days of competition, the Illinois State men's tennis team captured two titles in singles of the B and C Flight at the Ball State Invitational Sunday morning at the Cardinal Creek Courts.
Head coach Greg Kennett is very proud of his team.
"Winning two of the three flights was great," said Kennett. "Even though we didn't send anyone to the finals in the A Flight Luka Marinkovic and Yohann Nograbat still made into the A Flight quarterfinals. I think that it shows we have a depth in our lineup and that is a real asset."
Taking home the win in the B Flight singles was senior Alfredo Lagarda. He defeated Ball Sate's Brett Barryman in a tie breaker 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.
"Alfredo's performance was the best I have ever seen him play," said Kennett. "He played with a lot of passion and determination."
Winning the second title in the C Flight for ISU was Bloomington, Ill., native Oscar Beich. Fighting it out to the very end, Beich captured the title by posting a 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 win over Jorge Rodriguez of Ball State.
"Oscar had a slow start but he was able to figure out what he had to do to win," said Kennett. "He played hard and never gave up and I am very proud of him."
Kennett thinks that overall this was a pretty good weekend for his team. He is confident that his `Birds will continue to get stronger throughout the year.
"We now know what we have to work on," said Kennett. "We are going to work on strengthening our doubles teams."
The `Birds season will continue next weekend as they travel to Marquette for the Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis. Sep. 23-24.
