April 23, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team travels to the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the fourth-seeded team and will open play against fifth-seeded Bradley at the Koch Tennis Center in Omaha, Neb., Friday, April 24, at 10 a.m. Tournament play will conclude Sunday, April 26, with the championship match.
Illinois State sits fourth in the Valley with a 3-3 conference record and an overall 8-11 mark, behind No. 1 seed Drake (19-9, 6-0 MVC), No. 2 and No. 3 seeds Southern Illinois (15-6, 5-1) and Wichita State (9-12, 4-2). Bradley (8-12, 2-4) received the No. 5 seed, as Indiana State (3-17, 1-5) and tournament-host Creighton (4-10, 0-6) close out the rankings as the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, respectively.
The `Birds start the opening round of the tournament against the Braves, with the winner advancing to the semifinals and a match with top-seeded Drake, Saturday (April 25) at 11 a.m. Other matches to be played on Friday are Southern Illinois versus Creighton at 12:30 p.m., while Wichita State will wrap up the first day of play with Indiana State at 3 p.m. Sunday's (April 26) championship match time has yet to be determined.
"I hope to see us achieve the same result against Bradley that we saw earlier in the season," said head coach Cris James. "We're playing a rival school in the opening round, so that gives us motivation to be ready as soon as we take the court. We're focused on winning a conference championship and applying everything we've worked on throughout the season."
The Illinois State Redbirds are looking for their first tournament victory under James, as ISU fell, 4-1, to Southern Illinois in the first round of the 2008 State Farm MVC Championships, April 25, in Omaha, Neb.
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