Jan. 21, 2011
MVC Individuals Day One Results in PDF Format 
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Illinois State men's tennis team wrapped up day one at the MVC Individual Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, sending six singles competitors through to the semifinals.
In the first singles flight, senior Timon Reichelt defeated Juan Diego Cuadrado of Bradley, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, and then defeated Creighton's Billy Paluch, 6-2, 6-4. Sophomore Alexander Pelaez also went undefeated in the first day of play in the second singles flight, defeating Drake's James McKie, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-4, and Creighton's J.T. Christian, 6-2, 6-2.
Seniors Matej Zlatkovic and Filip Miljevic each went 1-1 in the third and fourth singles flights, respectively. Zlatkovic fell to Drake's Jean Erasmus in his first match, 6-4, 6-2, but bounced back to take out Eric Nguyen of Bradley, 6-4, 6-4. Miljevic dropped a heartbreaker his first match to Anis Ghorbel of Drake, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), but battled back to defeat Creighton's Bryan Lube, 6-1, 6-2.
In the fifth and sixth singles flights, freshmen Tuomas Manner and Mya Smith-Dennis each went undefeated on the day. Manner made short work of Drake's Robert Goodman in his first match, 6-3, 6-0, and handled Bradley's Arthur Romanet in his second match, 6-2, 6-3. Smith-Dennis dropped Cesar Bracho of Drake in straight-sets, 7-6 (5), 6-2, before defeating Bradley's Justin Abrams in straight-sets, 6-1,6-4. Juan Varon fell in his only match of the day to Drake's Ryan Drake, 6-3, 6-4.
All in all, head coach Cris James was pleased with his team's performance.
"We played pretty well," James said. "We had a couple of tough losses in matches where we didn't play our best, but for the most part, we looked pretty good."
Doubles action begins and singles action continues Saturday, and James expects his squad to be ready to play.
"I want to see us go out and compete tomorrow," James said. "We need to be sharp in doubles and stay consistent. If we do what we're supposed to do, we should be just fine."
Play resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m. CST at the Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
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