Jan. 18, 2008
Results
WICHITA, Kan. -
Illinois State men's tennis bounced back from some early setbacks to capture two singles matches and all three doubles matches on Friday, Jan. 18 at the Shocker Invitational in Wichita, Kan. Senior Oscar Beich and sophomore Michael Hobson paced the Redbirds by winning their singles matches and then teaming up to win a doubles match.
"Oscar played awesome for the day," said head coach Cris James. "He was really in control of his singles and doubles matches. Michael had a bit of a rough start, but was really able to rebound and pull it together."
In singles play, the `Birds saw their first competition of the spring 2008 season. Junior Nuno Jacinto dropped his first match of the season to Tiago Espirito Santo (Wichita State), 6-2, 7-6. Senior Luka Marinkovic also struggled to shake off the rust as he fell to Albert Ballesta (WSU), 6-2, 6-3. Sophomore Xavier Riart-Ferrer was bested by Thiago Dos Santos (WSU), 7-5, 6-2. Junior Daniel Tobar fared a little better, but lost a tie breaking third set to Adrian Chermaci (WSU), 6-0, 4-6, 10-5. Beich was able to break through and score the Redbird's first singles victory of the season by besting Scott McCormick (WSU), 6-1, 6-1. Hobson was able to rebound from a rough start and win a match against Kevin Gardner (WSU), 1-6, 7-6, 11-9.
"Singles did not have a good start, but we were able to pull it together and work hard," said James. "We need to work on some things mentally out there. I felt like our guys got down on themselves a little too much too early. I would like to see them be a bit more even keeled emotionally and not get too high or too low on the court."
With their first matches under their belts, the Redbirds looked to get things going in the right direction with their doubles play.
In doubles competition, Illinois State's nationally ranked duo of Marinkovic and Tobar were victorious over Ballesta and Santos (WSU), 9-8. Jacinto and Riart-Ferrer continued the doubles success by besting Santo and Gardner (WSU), 8-3. Beich and Hobson completed the doubles trifecta by topping Chermaci and McCormick (WSU), 8-5.
"Luka and Daniel were able to survive a very competitive high-level match, which was great to see," said James. "The other two doubles matches we were able to control from start to finish."
Play at the Shocker Invitational continues on Saturday, Jan. 19, before concluding on Sunday, Jan. 20.
