Jan. 17, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team is set to begin its spring 2008 campaign by heading to Wichita, Kan. to participate in the Shocker Invitational. The individual format competition will run from Friday, Jan. 18 through Sunday, Jan. 20, and is being hosted by Wichita State. Illinois State will be facing competition from host and fellow MVC member Wichita State as well as The University of Arkansas and The University of Oklahoma.
"We will be facing some tough competition this weekend," said head coach Cris James. "Both Arkansas and Oklahoma are good tennis programs and Wichita State is one of the favorites in the MVC. It will be a good opportunity for our guys to get some quality matches in after winter break and few months off from competition."
On Friday, the Redbirds will take on Wichita State in singles at 4 p.m. and doubles at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, the `Birds will go up against Arkansas in doubles at 2:30 p.m. before facing the Razorbacks in singles at 5 p.m. Illinois State wraps up play on Sunday by taking on Oklahoma in singles at 9 a.m. and then in again in doubles at 11 a.m.
The Redbirds will be led by the nationally ranked doubles tandem of senior Luka Marinkovic (8-3 fall singles, 7-2 fall doubles) and junior Daniel Tobar (5-3, 4-2). The duo went 4-2 in doubles play this fall after going 9-0 in the spring of 2007. Illinois State is rounded out by Senior Oscar Beich (5-5, 7-2), Junior Nuno Jacinto (6-4, 6-2), and Sophmores Michael Hobson (6-4, 4-2) and Xavier Riart-Ferrer (7-3, 6-2).
The tournament was originally slated to be held in Fayetteville, Ark. and be hosted by Arkansas, but was moved to Wichita due to indoor facility issues.
