April 19, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
After gaining victories on the No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles courts in last Saturday's match against Wichita State, sophomore Alexander Pelaez has received MVC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
Pelaez teamed with senior Filip Miljevic in doubles to defeat Vlad Marinescu and Guillermo Nicol, 8-5, before defeating Marienscu in singles play, 6-3, 6-2. Illinois State went on to defeat Wichita State, 4-3.
Head coach Cris James has been impressed with Pelaez's play throughout the season.
"He took care of business Saturday and did it quickly, which really gave us a boost," James said. "He's been great at the top of our lineup all year, and hopefully he'll keep it up through the rest of this season."
Pelaez is now 2-1 in both singles and doubles in conference play. He leads the team in singles victories with 28 total on the season, needing two more to crack the top-5 in single-season wins in ISU's history.
Pelaez and the Redbirds will conclude conference play this week, traveling to Peoria, Ill., to take on Bradley, Thursday afternoon, before hosting Southern Illinois Saturday.
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