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WESTLAKE, Ohio. - The Illinois State men's tennis team completed its weekend sweep Sunday by downing Cleveland State, 5-2, at the Paramount Tennis Club in Westlake, Ohio.
The Redbirds once again started fast in doubles, capturing the doubles point for the eighth time in nine matches this spring. Timon Reichelt and Alexander Pelaez improved their overall doubles record to 21-3 on the season, defeating Robert Fox and John Haley on the No. 1 court, 8-6. On the No. 2 court, Tuomas Manner and Matej Zlatkovic fell to Yannick Goossens and Matt Kuelker, 8-3, while Filip Miljevic and Mya Smith-Dennis wrapped up doubles play with a victory on the No. 3 court over Matt Ford and Chris Klepatz, 8-3.
In singles, the Redbirds were able to capture four of the six matches, led by a strong effort from the bottom of the lineup. Miljevic was able to slide past Kuelker in straight-sets on the No. 3 court, 6-3, 6-4, while Zlatkovic downed Klepatz in straight-sets on the No. 4 court, 6-4, 6-0. Juan Varon, in his first match action since Jan. 29 against UIC, was able to squeak past Haley on the No. 5 court, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5, while Skip Span made short work of Ford on the No. 6 court, 6-3, 6-2.
Reichelt and Pelaez were the only Redbirds to fall in singes, as Pelaez fell to Goossens on the No. 1 court, 7-5, 2-6, (10-7), while Reichelt fell to Fox in straight-sets on the No. 2 court, 6-2, 6-2.
Head coach Cris James was very pleased with the way the bottom of his lineup stepped up against Cleveland State.
"I would say we did what we needed to do to get the job done," James said. "Our doubles stepped up big, and the bottom of our lineup was great. It was really nice to see."
Despite the two victories on the weekend, James still feels there's room for improvement in his squad.
"It's not easy to go on the road, and to come out with two wins is a big accomplishment," James said. "I think we're going to have to play better if we want to pull out victories against top-tier teams. We had some people step up in key situations this weekend, but we're going to need a total team effort from here on out."
ISU will travel to Champaign, Ill., Friday to take on interstate-rival Illinois. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the Atkins Tennis Center.
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