April 17, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
This weekend the Illinois State men's tennis team (7-10) will finish its regular-season slate, as the Redbirds host Southern Illinois Saturday, April 18, and Indiana State Sunday, April 19. Both matches have a 1 p.m., start time and will be held at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Ill.
"This is a huge weekend for us," said head coach Cris James. "If we win both matches, we'll have the chance to tie for second place in the conference. Southern Illinois had a close 4-3 decision over Wichita State, which was similar to our match against WSU. I think we'll be evenly matched with SIU.
"Indiana State hasn't had the best year, but they have a couple strong players. Hopefully things go well for us on Saturday, then we'll start looking ahead to Sunday's match."
Illinois State is currently fourth in the Valley with a 2-2 conference record. The Redbirds swept Creighton and Bradley, 7-0, but fell to Wichita State (4-3) and Drake (7-0).
Southern Illinois (13-6) enters Saturday's match seated third in the Valley standings with a 3-1 conference record. The Salukis post well over .600 percent in both singles and doubles competition. SIU is coming off a, 6-0, win against Eastern Illinois Tuesday, April 14.
In the last meeting between ISU and Southern Illinois, the Redbirds fell to SIU, 5-2. Luka Marinkovic and Daniel Tobar grabbed singles victories at the No. 1 and 3 positions.
Indiana State will face Bradley Saturday, April 18, before competing against the `Birds. The Sycamores are currently in sixth place in the Valley, with an 3-15 overall record and a 1-3 mark in conference play.
Illinois State traveled to Terre Haute, Ind., in the 2007-08 season, where the `Birds were bested by Indiana State, 6-1. Filip Miljevic earned ISU's lone point by defeating Joshua Smith, 7-5, 6-4, in No. 4 singles.
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