March 5, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
After breaking into the national rankings for the first time in nearly 9 years, head coach Cris James and the Illinois State men’s tennis team are preparing for a top-75 matchup with Indiana, Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. This week, the Redbirds sit at the No. 66 spot on the ITA College Tennis Rankings and the Hoosiers are currently No. 43.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to play Indiana,” James said. “As a team, we feel good about where we’re at right now and what we accomplished in the first half of the season.”
Illinois State, who was last ranked among the top 75 teams in April of 2001, enters Saturday’s match against the Hoosiers with a 6-3 spring record. Its most recent win was a tight, 4-3, victory over James’ Alma mater, Purdue. Since the beginning of the season, the Redbirds hold a 33-21 singles-match mark and a 17-10 record on the doubles court.
Six of those doubles wins have come from the duo of Matej Zlatkovic and Timon Reichelt, who have proven to be a valuable pair for the Redbirds. Including fall tournaments, the tandem has won 9 of their last ten doubles matches and holds a stellar 13-3 record together.
In singles, Filip Miljevic has won his last four matches, including his most recent effort at Purdue which proved to be the deciding point in the 4-3 match. Alexander Pelaez has notched an impressive 7-2 overall record in the spring. The freshman has provided Illinois State with a powerful game on the No. 2 and No. 3 singles court.
The Redbirds have not seen Indiana in recent years. Saturday’s match against the Hoosiers is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind.
“At this point, I want to continue to help the team believe in themselves and believe they can compete with anyone out there,” James said. “We’re going to have to play at a high level on Saturday, but we should be right in there with Indiana.”
Live stats of Saturday’s match against Indiana can be found at the link below.
LIVE STATS
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