Sept. 28, 2007
Results
OMAHA, Neb. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team rounded started off strong at the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships on Friday, Sept. 28 at Omaha, Neb. The `Birds won four of the five matches they participated in, on the opening day of the tournament.
On the singles side, the Redbirds took two out of the three matches they played. In Flight 2, Nuno Jacinto bested Scott McCormick (WSU) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. In Flight 3, Xavier Riart-Ferrer defeated Vuk Bolic (BU) in straight sets as well, 6-4, 6-3. The `Birds only loss came in flight 1, when Luka Marinkovic was topped in three sets by Rishi Behl (INS), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
In doubles action, the `Birds played two matches winning both. In Flight 1, Marinkovic and Daniel Tobar downed Nikita Dudar and Joe Eckert (CU), 9-7. In Flight 2, Riart-Ferrer and Jacinto beat Breno Slavany and Chase Miller (SIU), 8-2.
For Tobar it was his first action of the season, after missing last weekend's Bradley Invitational.
According to head coach Cris James, it was business as usual for the Redbirds on Friday.
"I wasn't overly excited or overly disappointed by anything I saw today," said James. "Luka's loss was disappointing, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. He just didn't have his best game today, and he played a good player. On the positive side, Xavier and Nuno took care of business and got it done in both singles and doubles."
Play continues at the MVC Individual Championships on Saturday and concludes on Sunday, Sept. 30.
