March 2, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team's doubles duo of sophomore Alexander Pelaez and senior Timon Reichelt received a No. 42 national doubles ranking Tuesday in the newest release of Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Men's National Rankings.
The tandem, previously ranked No. 48 nationally earlier in the year, has been on a tear from day one of the 2010-11 season. Through the first 13 individual matches of the spring season, Pelaez and Reichelt have recorded a 12-1 record, highlighted by victories over squads from No. 41 Indiana and No. 52 DePaul, all on the first doubles court.
Head coach Cris James feels his duo has potential to make a deep post-season run at this level of play.
"They've been playing very well," James said. "They're taking pride in it, and it's kind of leading our team. Right now, we want to make doubles a bit of a focus, which gives them the best chance to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The national rankings is the only way they're going to be able to get there, and I've told them that they really can't afford to lose, and so far they really haven't. It's been extremely important for our team."
James also believes Pelaez and Reichelt's success has filtered down through the rest of his team.
"I think it gives us a lot of confidence," James said. "We've won the doubles point in every match except one (Indiana), where we barely lost. Our second and third doubles teams are also pretty capable, but they're a little less consistent. It seems like on one day, one of them will be on and the other one is not, and vice versa, but we've always been able to get the job done because we've been so dominant at No. 1."
Pelaez and Reichelt will be put to the test Friday afternoon, as the duo takes on the nationally-ranked No. 32 doubles tandem of Dennis Nevolo and Abe Souza of No. 4 Illinois. The match begins at 3 p.m. CST at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill.
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