Jan. 25, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State men's tennis team will host Illinois-Chicago (0-3) for its home opener and its first duel match of the season on Saturday, Jan. 26. The match will take place at the Redbird's indoor facility, the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington. First serve is set to take place at 1:30 p.m.
"I expect our guys to come out and perform well," said head coach Cris James. "The guys have had several weeks of practice and played in some tough matches last weekend, so I expect all the rust from break to be gone."
Last weekend the Redbirds competed in the Shocker Invitational in Wichita, Kan. Illinois State was paced by senior Oscar Beich and sophomore Michael Hobson. The duo scored two doubles victories and each was able to claim a singles win as well on the weekend.
Illinois State and Illinois-Chicago both competed in the Bradley Invitational earlier this year. In singles, Beich and senior Luka Marinkovic bested Danny Wilson and Bastian Harbo respectively. Marinkovic also defeated Sebastian Lystad. Junior Nuno Jacinto was beat by Adriano Liccardo. In doubles, Beich and Marinkovic won against Lystad and Andy Lockhart in the semi-finals before defeating Harbo and Liccardo for the championship.
The Redbirds may sport a new lineup with freshman newcomer Filip Miljevic eligible to see his first action on Saturday. Miljevic is a native of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Illinois-Chicago comes to town on the heels of a 7-0 loss at Marquette on Jan. 19. The Flames are seeking their first win of the season, as they have also suffered defeats to DePaul and Northwestern.
