March 8, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
For the first time this spring season, the Illinois State men's tennis team will hit the outdoor courts, as it travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia State Wednesday and Georgia Tech Thursday.
In only his first year as head coach of the Panthers last season, Georgia State's Chase Hodges turned a 1-20 record from the 2008-09 season into a 15-6 mark in the 2009-10 season, the greatest turnaround in collegiate men's tennis history. Hodges, the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year for three-straight seasons at the helm of the Drake Bulldogs, has led his Georgia State squad to a 15-4 record this year, highlighted by a 10-0 home record.
Georgia Tech currently boasts a No. 17 national-ranking, and will be the second top-20 opponent that the Redbirds will have faced this season. In singles, the Yellow Jackets have two top-50 ranked competitors, No. 16 Guillermo Gomez and No. 50 Juan Spir, and have the tandem of Spir and Kevin King ranked No. 15 in doubles. The match also pits brother against brother as Dusan Miljevic and the Yellow Jackets will be taking on older brother Filip Miljevic and the Redbirds. Thursday's match will be the first time the siblings have faced each other in collegiate competition.
Head coach Cris James believes this week's matches will be a big test for his squad.
"Georgia State seems to have turned its program around, and it should be a good match," James said. "Georgia Tech is good. We've seen several of their players, and they're tough from top to bottom, and they're great in doubles. These matches will definitely challenge our team, but we're up for the challenge and ready to hit the hard courts after a few good days of practice."
ISU's match against Georgia State will take place at Piedmont Park, while the Georgia Tech match will take place at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. Both matches are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CST.
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