Jan. 20, 2008
Results
WICHITA, Kan. -
Illinois State men's tennis wrapped up its opening weekend of the 2008 spring season on Sunday by competing against players from Oklahoma in the individual-style Shocker Invitational. The Redbirds were unable to capture a victory in the final day of competition.
"Oklahoma is currently a top-35 team, so this was a good experience for our guys," said head coach Cris James on facing players from the nationally ranked No. 11 Sooners. "Our guys were able to get out and play some quality early season matches and see what we need to improve on as the season progresses."
In singles, junior Nuno Jacinto was defeated by Sergey Avdeyev, 6-1, 6-1. Fellow Illinois State junior Daniel Tobar took his opponent, Vlad Marinescu, to three sets before falling, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Senior Oscar Beich also took his opponent to three sets, before Ionut Beleleu bested him, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Sophomore Xavier Riart-Ferrer was topped by Alex Joitoiu, 6-2, 6-4. Sophomore Michael Hobson lost to Ryan Thomas, 6-2, 6-4.
Oklahoma featured only five players, giving Illinois State a chance to rest senior Luka Marinkovic.
"Luka had a bit of a bum arm, and with Oklahoma only playing five guys, it gave us a good chance to rest him," said James.
With Marinkovic out, Illinois State took the opportunity to mix up the usual pairings in doubles. Beich paired up with Riart-Ferrer and Hobson with Tobar. The `Birds were unable to capture a doubles victory as Beich and Riart-Ferrer lost to Thomas and Beleleu, 8-4, and Hobson and Tobar fell to Marinescu and Joitoiu, 8-4.
"It's hard to practice having the mental toughness and tenacity that you need to win matches in practice," said James. "That is what this tournament was about for us, getting out there and getting used to having that tough mindset. On Friday we didn't have it, but we came right back and played much tougher mentally on Saturday and Sunday."
The Redbirds men's tennis team returns to action with its home opener next Saturday, Jan. 26, against Illinois-Chicago. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m.
