April 28, 2007
Final Stats
OMAHA, Neb. -
Seniors Alfredo Lagarda and Yohann Nograbat ended their tenure with the Illinois State men's tennis team at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships as the Redbirds were defeated in the semifinals Saturday by Wichita State, 4-2. The championships will conclude on Sunday with No. 3 WSU taking on No. 1 Drake.
The Redbirds end the season going 13-8 overall and tallying a 5-1 mark during the Valley regular season, which gave them the second seeded position entering the championships.
Wichita State, seeded No. 3, continues into the finals and looks to improve upon its 12-8 overall record.
Head Coach Greg Kennett was proud of his team's efforts throughout the tournament and all season.
"This season was a bit up and down, but to end the regular conference season in second place was great," said Kennett. "We had a lot adversity and overall I am proud of the team's effort. We always fought hard and we are always extremely proud to wear the Redbird colors. I am proud of the guys for their efforts and it was a good year overall.
The Birds' started off the day slow losing the doubles point at both No. 1 and 3. Daniel Tobar and Luka Marinkovic pulled though at the No. 2 position and improved upon their perfect 9-0 mark as the duo defeated WSU's Thiago Dos Santos and Albert Ballesta, 8-6.
In singles action, the Redbirds rallied to stay in the match. Lagarda and Marinkovic gave the `Birds hope as they won their matches at No. 2 and 3, respectively. Nograbat lost his match at No. 1, putting the score at 3-2 with matches still be played at Nos. 5 and 6.
The match was decided at No. 5 when Xavier Riart-Ferrer fell after three sets of play to Thiago Dos Santos, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Tobar left his match unfinished at No. 6 once the match was decided at No. 5.
Kennett was happy with his team's singles performance despite the end result at the fifth singles position.
"It was unfortunate that Xavier was up and then lost the point at the end," said Kennett. "He played well up until the end. I think this was a good experience for him playing under intense pressure and he learned a lot from this match."
Playing at the top positions all season in doubles and singles for `Birds were seniors Lagarda (No. 2 singles) and Nograbat (No. 1 singles). In doubles, the duo ended their season 10-8 overall going 3-3 in the conference. The No. 1 duo dropped their final match to Goran Vujakija and Boris Gubic, 8-1.
Nograbat has played at the top singles position for the past two years. he ends his entire singles playing career at ISU with a 55-50 mark. The La Barthe de Neste, France, native ends the season with a loss to Wichita State's Goran Vujakija, 6-1, 7-5. In his final season he was 7-12 at No. 1 singles and 10-10 at No. 1 doubles. Nograbat was honored as a 2007 Missouri Valley Conference all-select team member.
Lagarda ends his senior season taking down Tiago Espirito Santo at the No. 2 singles spot posting a 6-2, 7-5 victory. The Sonora, Mexico, native ends his career as a Redbird going 64-38 over the past four years. Lagarda, who primarily played at No. 2 singles, ends this season with a 12-10 mark.
The two seniors will be missed, but had a great senior season.
"Both of them (Lagarda and Nograbat) had a great year playing at No. 1 doubles," said Kennett. "Alfredo played really well in singles today and he really gave us a chance to win.
"Yohann is a strong player and has done a nice job all year," added Kennett. "He didn't play great today but overall I am proud of his efforts."
The MVC Championships will conclude Sunday in Omaha, Neb.
