Jan. 7, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its college rankings Tuesday on its Web site and the Illinois State men's tennis team received several honors. Senior Daniel Tobar and freshman Skip Span rank No. 56 in the ITA national doubles rankings while the Redbird duo of Timon Reichelt and Filip Miljevic earned the No. 11 doubles spot in the central region. Miljevic also ranked No. 28 in the region for singles.
Tobar acquired his second ITA national doubles ranking under the reign of head coach Cris James. Tobar and Span enter the spring season with a 5-1 doubles record. Tobar earned his first national doubles ranking of No. 47, at the beginning of the 2008 spring season, with partner Luka Marinkovic.
"The national ranking for Daniel and Skip is not only great for them individually, but for our team as well," said James. "It shows that our program is making progress and we hope to see our entire team is ranked in the near future. Earning two national rankings with two different partners is testament of Daniel's abilities."
Miljevic and doubles partner Reichelt made the top-15 doubles team in the central region at No. 11, with a 6-2 fall record. The duo is sandwiched between two other Valley teams, Mauricio Ballvian and Maor Zirkin (Drake, No. 10), and Adrian Chermaci and David Cavalcanti (Wichita, No. 12).
Miljevic added to his success as he grabbed the region's No. 28 spot in singles over Wichita's Jonathan Obrist (No. 29) and Guilherne Marsiglia (No. 30) of Drake. The Redbird currently boasts a 7-6 singles record from the fall.
"Both Filip and Timon had productive fall seasons, and I am glad to see them rewarded for it," said James. "I am hoping these achievements will heighten team competition, and help motivate each other to make our team more successful come spring."
Redbird tennis takes to the court Jan. 23, for the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
