Feb. 22, 2009
Final Stats
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team finished the weekend with a 5-2 victory over instate rival Western Illinois Sunday. The Redbirds earned the doubles point with the help of partners Skip Span and Filip Miljevic and Daniel Tobar and Micah LeMoine. The team won four-out-of-six singles matches at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill.
Head coach Cris James felt that the Redbirds played tough and sees the win against Western Illinois as a confidence booster for the team.
"I'm proud of how we earned the win," said James. "We were able to play tough and finish the job. Each match showed something of a challenge. We had a slow start on one court, and one of our guys got hurt early in his match, but continued to play. I think the minor injury helped spur on other teammates to come through with tough wins. We played hard until the end."
During singles action, LeMoine took Rodrigo Azeredo to three sets, beating him 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 6 position. Span nearly shut out Francisco Ortiz, 6-0, 6-1, in No. 3 singles. Michael Hobson defeated Mandela Shepard, 6-0, 6-3, at the No. 5 position, while Miljevic topped Neil Lesinski, 6-4, 6-3, in No. 2 singles.
Timon Reichelt dropped a tough match to Zach Frisch, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, in No. 1 singles. Tobar was injured early in his match against Sean Ragee-Nelson, but continued to fight despite falling, 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 4 slot.
In doubles play, the Redbirds experimented with a new line-up. Partners Span and Miljevic beat Neil Lesinski and Sean Ragee-Nelson at the No. 1 position, 8-6. Tobar and LeMoine captured the No. 3 doubles win over Mandela Shepard and Francisco Ortiz, 8-4, to secure the doubles point for the Redbirds.
"We changed our doubles line-up again," said James. "I wanted to pair the more experienced players with the least experienced in doubles. We're making progress and that's what I wanted to see."
The Illinois State men's tennis team resumes its schedule Feb. 28 in East Lansing, Mich., when the Redbirds take on Michigan State at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. The match is set to start at 9 a.m., CT.
