March 30, 2008
Final Stats
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -
Senior Luka Marinkovic won matches at the No. 1 singles and doubles spots to pace the Illinois State men's tennis team in its 5-2 victory over Bradley on Sunday, March 30, at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill. It was Illinois State's third-consecutive victory with only five active players due to injuries to senior Oscar Beich and sophomore Xavier Riart-Ferrer.
"We are banged up a little," said head coach Cris James. "Even the guys who are playing are all dealing with some minor injuries. Getting healthy between matches is pretty important for us right now."
For the third-straight match the `Birds captured the doubles point despite having to surrender the No. 3 match due to the injury-limited five-man roster. Marinkovic teamed with junior Nuno Jacinto for the first time this season. The duo topped Evgeny Samoylov and Milos Romic at the No. 1 position, 8-3. In No. 2 doubles, junior Daniel Tobar and sophomore Michael Hobson defeated Richard Robertson and Vuk Bolic, 8-3.
"We have been getting it done in doubles," said James. "This is the third-consecutive match were we have captured the doubles point, that's helped us win three matches in a row with only five players. Hopefully the players are becoming more confident in our ability to still compete despite only having five players available."
In singles, Illinois State captured four of the five matches played and was forced to forfeit the sixth because of the limited roster. Marinkovic won at the No. 1 singles position, besting Samoylov, 6-4, 6-2. At the No. 2 spot, Jacinto beat Romic, 7-6, 6-4. Freshman Filip Miljevic improved to 7-3 in his last 10 matches by defeating Michel Macara at the No. 4 position, 6-1, 6-2. Hobson collected his third win in three tries at the No. 5 position by topping Wilder Sampson, 6-1, 6-2.
The Redbirds will remain at home next weekend to host Missouri Valley Conference foe No. 37 Drake on Saturday, April 5, and Big East member DePaul on Sunday, April 6. Both matches are set to begin at 1 p.m.
