Feb. 27, 2010
PLACIDA, Fla. - Illinois showed Illinois State why they are 14th ranked team in the nation, as the Illini swept the Redbirds, 9-0, at the seventh-annual Tinervin Cup in Placida, Fla., Saturday. Illinois has now won all seven Tinervin Cups.
The event, which is a change from traditional stroke scoring, featured six individual, head-to-head, stroke-based matches played in the morning, and three two-on-two, head-to-head, better-ball matches played in the afternoon. Each separate match is worth one of nine team points.
"Obviously we had a formidable foe today and there's a reason they have been in the top-15 in the country the last few years," head coach Ray Kralis said. "But I'm a believer in the better competition you play against, the better you become so it's not something you want to shy away from. The fact that we got to come down and compete against a great team and get some reps in, I think will make us better because of it. It doesn't feel good now, but I think that we can take some lessons and move forward with it. It will pay off for us as we continue to move on in the spring."
Illinois swept the individual matches in the morning. Seniors Tommy Bliefnick and Kyle Bragg tied for ISU's lowest score as each fired a 4-over-par 76, but came up short. Sophomore Eric Meier (77), senior Joe Emerich (79) and juniors Will Cullen (80) and Jeff Kellen (83) were all defeated in their morning matches.
"In the singles matches we had three matches that could have gone either way," Kralis said. "We were leading with about three or four holes left to play and the tables were turned and we lost. When we were unable to close out those matches it took the wind out of the sales a little bit from a competitive standpoint."
Looking to gain a few points in the afternoon better-ball matches, the Redbirds found themselves overmatched by a highly-skilled Illini team. Illinois took all three matches to sweep ISU, 9-0.
"We got down in a couple of those matches early and were just never able to climb back in it," Kralis said. "It's always frustrating to come up with nothing on the board after you battle through a match but that's the way this format goes."
The Redbirds will return to action March 29-30, when they travel to Little Rock, Ark., to compete at the UALR/First Tee Collegiate Classic. The two-day tournament will be held at the Chenal Country Club.
Morning Matches: Langley (69) def. Bliefnick (76), Guthrie (74) def. Kellen (83), Barlow (74) def. Bragg (76), Hoffman (76) def. Meier (77), DeForest (68) def. Emerich (79), Frankenberg (79) def. Cullen (80)
Afternoon Matches: Langley/Guthrie def. Bliefnick/Kellen 4&3, Barlow/Hoffman def. Bragg/Meier 5&4, DeForest/Frankenberg def. Emerich/Cullen 5&4
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