March 26, 2010
DENVER, Colo. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team is in Denver, Colo., preparing for a pair of matches against No. 25 Denver and Air Force this weekend. The Redbirds will take on Denver Saturday night at 8 p.m., CT and travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunday for a match against the Falcons of Air Force at 11 a.m., CT.
"The biggest thing for us this weekend is the change in conditions," head coach Cris James said. "The altitude here changes the speed of the game and makes it much faster. We will have to be proactive during the match and control each point. Realistically, someone needs several days to adjust to playing tennis at this altitude. We have to look at these two matches and the conditions here as a challenge."
ISU holds an 8-6 record and is coming off a 6-1 win over the Toledo Rockets last Sunday. Five of the Redbird's six losses have come against teams who are ranked among the top-75 teams in the nation.
Sophomore Skip Span helped his team score two points, one against No. 11 Illinois and one against Toledo, in last weekend's contests. His wins earned him the Missouri Valley Conference Athlete of the Week selection, the second of his career. He defeated No. 11 Illinois' Connor Roth, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-5), in a hard-fought match at No. 6 singles on Friday. The Redbird sophomore continued his solid play at home on Saturday, cruising past Toledo's Bryant Dudzik, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 5 singles spot.
"As a group we're pretty confident," James said. "We don't know much about Denver or Air Force, but overall we're playing well. We should have two good matches this weekend."
The Denver Pioneers are 12-2 this season and have several wins over ranked opponents. They entered the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings earlier this season at the No. 63 spot and have climbed the charts since then, currently holding the No. 25 position.
Air Force is 10-3 this season and is coming off a 6-1 loss at Central Florida.
The Redbirds will play Denver at the Stapleton Tennis Pavilion in Denver, Colo., Saturday night. The team will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face off against Air Force at the Academy on Sunday.
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