April 10, 2010
Final Stats
WICHITA, Kan. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team defeated Wichita State, 4-3, Saturday afternoon to take sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference. Junior Matej Zlatkovic clinched the win for the Redbirds on the No. 4 singles court by defeating Adrian Chermaci, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
"Matej lost the first set but he got more aggressive as the match went on," head coach Cris James said. "He was really able to take over the match after that."
Illinois State and Wichita State entered Saturday's contest with identical, 2-0, conference records. With the win over the Shockers, the Redbirds claim outright possession of first place in the MVC with just two conference matches remaining.
The Redbirds were able to start strong and take the doubles point on Saturday. Zlatkovic and teammate Timon Reichelt defeated WSU's Chermaci and Vlad Merinescu, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles. In their third match on the No. 1 doubles court, Michael Hobson and Alexander Pelaez downed Sven Kasper and Valentin Mihai, 8-5.
"We started great at No. 1 and No. 2 doubled [Saturday]," James said. "It was an intense match overall and we played aggressively and with confidence."
In singles, Pelaez gained a point for Illinois State with a victory on the No. 3 court over Mihai, 6-3, 6-1. Reichelt played at the top spot for the Redbirds and defeated Kasper, 7-5, 6-2.
"Timon competed really well [Saturday]," James said. "Sometimes he lets himself get in his way of being able to play good tennis. He definitely did not do that [Saturday]. He played really tough. Overall, we had a slow start in singles and we lost a couple of quick matches at the No. 5 and 6 courts. It was a tight match against a good team, but we were able to give ourselves a chance to win."
Reichelt, Pelaez and Zlatkovic have each won their last five matches. Zlatkovic leads the team with 24 singles victories this year.
The Redbirds are now 3-0 in conference play and hold a 12-7 record this season. ISU is on a four-match winning streak and has two conference matches remaining this season.
"This win boosts our confidence even more," James said. "We have a good chance to win the conference regular-season title now, but we're not stopping or slowing down. Our ultimate goal is to get to the NCAA tournament. We have to finish strong next weekend at home. I hope we can get some people to come out to support us at our last two matches."
The Redbirds will host back-to-back home matches next weekend, beginning with Creighton next Saturday, Apr. 17, starting at 1 p.m. Illinois State will finish the regular season against defending MVC Champion Drake, Sunday, Apr. 18, at 11 a.m., at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts.
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