Feb. 26, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -
Final Stats 
Head coach Chris Hoover and the Illinois State women's tennis team clinched their second sweep of the spring season against Eastern Illinois Saturday at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill. The Redbirds entered Saturday's match with a 1-4 overall record after hosting and losing to Butler, 5-2, Friday night.
Hoover thought Saturday was a great way to end the home stand.
"(Saturday) was much better", said Hoover. "The best thing for our team after a loss is to get right back out and play again. Fortunately for us, we were able to plan another match today and make up for what we lost (Friday). We were ultimately disappointed with the outcome of (Friday's) match, so today we went out there and were ready to put up a fight and that's exactly what we did."
The `Birds secured an early lead Saturday after winning all three doubles matches, locking in the doubles point. Starting out the winning streak, Aniko Kiss partnered with Phyllis Tigges at the No. 1 position, defeating Merritt Whitley and Cara Huck, 8-2. Carolina Abello teamed with Hannah Esker to beat Amanda Dibbs and Janelle Prisner at the No. 2 spot, 8-3, while Ashton Nisbet and Heather Nisbet downed Shannon Brooks and Kristen Laird, 8-6.
In singles action, Gabby Phillips sealed the first win against Anni Egan, 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 4 position, while Sarah Streitz upped Laird, 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 6 position. Next to finish, Aniko Kiss locked in another win for the `Birds after defeating Prisner at the No. 1 spot, 6-4, 6-2. At the No. 2 position, Phyllis Tigges lost her first set to Merritt Whitley, 4-6, but rallied back to win her second set 6-0, and finished with a tie-break, third-set win, 10-5. Carolina Abello was next with a win at the No. 3 position against Jennifer Kim, 6-0, 7-5. Finally rounding out play for the day, Hannah Esker won against Shannon Brooks at the No. 4 spot in three sets, 7-5, 5-6, 10-7.
Although the team as a whole contributed to the overall win, Hoover found that a few Redbirds in particular really stood out.
"Sarah (Streitz) really stepped it up (Saturday)," said Hoover. "We had to move around the lineup a little this weekend and fill in a few spots here and there and Sarah filled in nicely. She had a great, strong second set and really played some great tennis. Ashton (Nisbet) and Heather (Nisbet) did a great job too. It is nice to see that some of our student-athletes with less experience are starting to really develop as players and contribute to the team."
Illinois State is now 2-4 on the season and will continue play March 5-6 as they travel to Iowa City to take on Kansas State and Iowa.
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