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Illinois State University Athletics

Redbirds Fall to No. 1 Drake in MVC Semifinal Round

April 25, 2009

Results

OMAHA, Neb. - The Illinois State men's tennis team fell, 4-1, to the No. 1 seed Drake, in Saturday's semifinal round of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tennis Championships at the Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center. Junior Xavier Riart-Ferrer claimed the lone point for the Redbirds after winning at the No. 4 singles position.

Competition was moved to Creighton's indoor facility due to weather conditions, leaving No. 5 and 6 singles matches unfinished.

At the No. 4 singles position, Riart-Ferrer defeated Ivan Mendoza in two sets, 6-2, 6-4, while flights 1, 2 and 3 battled for Redbird victories. At No. 1, Timon Reichelt won his first set against, the Valley Player of the Year, Maor Zirkin, 6-2, but lost the next two sets, 6-3, 6-3.

Skip Span and Filip Miljevic dropped one set each to the Bulldogs in a tiebreaker. Miljevic lost, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), to Mauricio Ballivian in No. 2 singles. Drake's Cesar Bracho beat Span 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, at the No. 3 position.

In doubles competition, Miljevic and Riart-Ferrer won, 8-4, at the No. 3 spot over Ricardo Lau and Guilherme Marsiglia. The pairing of Micah LeMoine and Span lost to Mendoza and Ballivian, 8-3, at the No. 2 position, while Reichelt and Michael Hobson were unable to stop Bracho and Zirkin, 8-3, at No. 1, giving Drake the doubles point.

Despite the loss, Redbird head coach Cris James is proud of the team's performance against Drake.

"I would have to say this was the best match we've played all year," said James. "Drake outplayed us during the regular-season, but today we gave everything and played great tennis; it was a close match. We were toe-to-toe with Drake for the majority of the match. No. 3 doubles played great and we remained competitive in singles.

"I think if Skip or Filip would have won their singles match, it wouldn't have put so much pressure on the No. 1 match. Although we didn't win the last match of the year, this wasn't a bad way to end our season. We've made a huge improvement in our confidence, proving we can take our tennis to another level. I'm hoping we can use this as a stepping stone during the summer to consistently play at the level we did today."

This marks the final match of the 2008-09 season for the Redbirds, as they end with an overall 9-12 record and a 4-4 mark in the Valley.

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