April 10, 2011
Results in PDF Format
DES MOINES, Iowa. - The Illinois State men's tennis team was up-ended by Drake, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
Head coach Cris James feels his squad did not have enough confidence to get past the Bulldogs.
"I think Drake played really well," James said. "That was a big part of it. Overall, as hard as it is to admit, we weren't really as prepared as we needed to be. We didn't have enough confidence to deal with a good team that was playing very well, and they took it to us right from the very beginning. We fought hard, but we just weren't able to respond."
Skip Span picked up the only point of the day for the Redbirds, dropping Cesar Bracho on the No. 6 court, 6-2, 6-2. Span's victory improves his season record in dual matches to 8-6.
Drake was able to secure two of the three doubles matches to earn the lone doubles point. Mauricio Ballivian and Anis Ghorbel defeated Alexander Pelaez and Timon Reichelt on the No. 1 court, 8-1, while Jean Erasmus and James McKie dropped Matej Zlatkovic and Tuomas Manner on the No. 2 court, 8-5. Filip Miljevic and Mya Smith-Dennis picked up the lone doubles victory for the Redbirds, defeating Bracho and Ryan Drake on the No. 3 court, 8-7 (6).
The Bulldogs rode their hot start into the singles competition, earning victories on every court besides No. 6. In a battle of 2010 MVC Co-Players of the Year, Ballivian ousted Reichelt in straight-sets, 6-1, 6-0, on the No. 1 court. Pelaez fell to Ghorbel on the No. 2 court, 7-6 (5), 6-4, while Miljevic fell in straight-sets to McKie on the No. 3 court, 7-5, 7-5. Zlatkovic was up-ended by Erasmus on the No. 4 court, 6-4, 6-4, while Manner fell to Robin Goodman on the No. 5 court, 6-0, 6-4.
ISU now turns its focus towards next week's match against Wichita State, and James knows that his team needs to leave Sunday's loss in the past and focus on the remainder of the season.
"Right now, we are going to concentrate on Wichita State," James said. "It's a home match, a rivalry match, and we want to play well for our fans. It's good for us to get this loss out of the way, so we can be better prepared when we play in the conference tournament. If we keep our focus on improving every day, the results will come."
ISU will take on Wichita State Saturday, Apr. 16, at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts in Normal, Ill.
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