March 19, 2010
Final Stats
URBANA, Ill. - Sophomore Skip Span clinched a point for the Illinois State men's tennis team with a 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 win at the No. 6 singles spot, but No. 11 Illinois was too much for the Redbirds, who suffered a 6-1 loss Friday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
Illinois State was unable to capture the early doubles point, losing on all three doubles courts. Matej Zlatkovic and Timon Reichelt fell, 8-3, to the No. 68 nationally-ranked pair of Marek Czerwinski and Stephen Hoh.
"Our first mistake in doubles was we came out and tried to do too much," head coach Cris James said. "I can understand why we did that against this Illinois team. But after we made that mistake, we didn't even put up a fight. We kind of gave up which was disappointing."
The Redbirds were able to bounce back in singles, where Reichelt battled at the No. 3 singles court against Illinois' Abe Souza, who is ranked No. 77 in the nation. The two opened the first set all-square at 3-3, until Souza was able to pull away to take the set, 6-4. Reichelt fought hard in the second set and tied it at 6 all, but Souza sealed the, 7-6, victory with the final point.
"In singles we fought much harder," James said. "Despite the loss, we're starting to realize against their better teams that we can compete with them. We just have to go out and give ourselves a chance every time."
Span captured the only victory for Illinois State at the No. 6 singles court over Illinois' Connor Roth.
"I am happy for Skip because he has been struggling recently," James said. "It's big for him to get the win (Friday). We talked about him getting back to the basics of the game and I think he did that (Friday)."
The Redbirds now hold a 7-6 record and the Illini move to 9-5 with wins over Ball State and Illinois State Friday. The men's tennis team will return to action Saturday afternoon against the Toledo Rockets (7-9).
"Saturday's match against Toledo will be a different challenge," James said. "Mentally it is a lot different than Friday's match against Illinois."
Saturday's match, which was originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts, has been moved to the Evergreen Racquet Club and will start at 2:30 p.m.
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