April 5, 2008
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team opened its new outdoor facility, The Gregory Street Tennis Courts on Saturday, March 5, by hosting Missouri Valley foe No. 51 Drake (18-0). The Redbirds were unable to pull out a victory falling 7-0 to the Bulldogs. It was Illinois State's (9-5) first loss since falling to College of Charleston on March 12th.
"I was pleased with our effort, I felt like we competed hard," said head coach Cris James. "We got a little bit outside of our comfort zone. Drake playing well had something to do with that, but I also think it was partially due to our guys pressing a little too much. We need to be able to come out and be confident in our level of play and our ability to compete with anybody. We tried to play a little bit outside of our capabilities today. With a team like Drake we need to have confidence that we can compete with them within our own level of play."
In doubles, the Redbirds were unable to capture the point for the first time since Feb. 10, when they faced Northern Illinois. Senior Luka Marinkovic and junior Nuno Jacinto fell in their No. 1 position match against Dalibor Pavic and Maor Zirkin, 8-3. At No. 2 doubles, the duo of junior Daniel Tobar and sophomore Michael Hobson lost to Mauricio Ballivian and Ivan Mendoza, 8-3.
In singles, Drake swept the day, leaving Illinois State with their first 7-0 loss since last April 21, also against Drake. Marinkovic played No. 68 Pavic in the No. 1 singles match, falling, 6-0, 6-3. Sophomore Daniel Tobar was the only Redbird to force a third set, falling to Ricardo Lau, 7-5, 3-6, 10-7.
"I know we are able to play with this caliber of a team," said James. "We get to play DePaul tomorrow, which is also a good team. For us it's just about sustaining that high level of play throughout a match."
The Redbirds return to action Sunday, April 6 at home against DePaul. The match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start at The Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Ill.
