March 12, 2008
Final Stats
CHARLESTON, S.C. -
Sophomore Xavier Riart-Ferrer sustained an injury during a pivotal match as the Illinois State men's tennis team was unable to beat College of Charleston, Wednesday, March 12, in Charleston, S.C. The Redbirds captured the doubles point by sweeping all three matches, but did not win the requisite three singles matches to defeat College of Charleston (5-6).
Head coach Cris James was pleased with the Redbird's efforts despite the loss.
"We had a pretty good effort today," said James. "I felt like we had the match wrapped up until Xavier got hurt. He was up 7-5, 5-3, when he was injured. He was in the last match on the court so we tried to see if he could play through with the injury. Xavier tried to play but it became obvious to me that he was not going to be able to win the match with his injury. I kept him in there because you never know how the opponent (Joe Nicolazzi) will react. You have to hand it to (Nicolazzi) because he played well down the stretch, but I really felt that Xavier was going to win that match for us up until he was injured."
It is unknown how serious Riart-Ferrer's injury is, or if he will miss any significant time. Riart-Ferrer is scheduled to see a doctor Thursday regarding the injury.
In doubles, Illinois State used the same lineup for the second consecutive day and came away with three victories. At the No. 1 position, senior Luka Marinkovic and junior Daniel Tobar teamed up to best Steven Myers and Christopher Carlton, 8-3. Junior Nuno Jacinto and Riart-Ferrer topped Nicolazzi and Ross Moyer, 8-3, at the No. 2 spot. The `Birds completed the sweep when sophomore Michael Hobson and freshman Filip Miljevic won their No. 3 flight match against Mickael Boyer and Jimmy Petit, 8-5.
In singles, the Redbirds won two out of the six matches before Riart-Ferrer was forced to retire in the decisive match. At the No. 3 position, Tobar recorded his seventh consecutive singles win by defeating Myers, 7-6, 6-1. At the No. 5 spot, Miljevic extended his winning steak to four by besting Carlton, 6-1, 6-2. Riart-Ferrer was defeated at the No. 4 position by Nicolazzi, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 ret.
Illinois State returns to action Friday, March 21, at 3 p.m. taking on Missouri Valley Conference foe Creighton. The match will be the home opener for the Redbirds as well as the first tennis match ever played and the new Gregory Street Tennis Courts.
