April 21, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
Results in PDF Format 
The Illinois State men's tennis team defeated interstate rival Bradley, 6-1, Thursday afternoon at the Markin Tennis Courts in Peoria, Ill. The win improves Illinois State's conference record to 3-1 on the season.
The Redbirds started fast in doubles. Timon Reichelt and Tuomas Manner defeated Ashton Kalhorn and Eric Nguyen on the No. 1 court, 8-2. On the No. 2 court, Alexander Pelaez and Filip Miljevic breezed past Hamish Weerasinghe and Justin Abrams, 8-2, while Juan Varon and Skip Span defeated Juan Cuadrado and Arthur Romanet, 7-6.
ISU continued its impressive play into singles competition. Reichelt returned to the No. 1 court to defeat Cuadrado in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, while Pelaez picked up a win on the No. 2 court over Weerasinghe, 6-1, 7-5. Miljevic defeated Kalhourn on the No. 3 court, 6-3, 6-2, earning his 65th career singles victory, tying him for 10th place in career singles victories in ISU history. Manner took care of Romanet in straight-sets on the No. 4 court, 6-1, 6-2, while Span also won in straight-sets over Nguyen on the No. 5 court, 6-1, 6-2. Varon was the only Redbird to fall in singles play, dropping his match on the No. 6 court to Justin Abrams, 6-2, 6-1.
Head coach Cris James was pleased with Thursday's results.
"Overall it was a good performance," James said. "We were focused. I told the guys we're still preparing for the conference tournament, and although we've been having good practices, it's good to see it translated into matches."
ISU will round out its regular-season Saturday, when Southern Illinois comes to town, and James knows the Salukis will come to play.
"Southern Illinois definitely has some talent," James said. "It's going to be a tough match, but if we come out focus and compete at our best, I think we'll have a pretty good chance of getting the win."
Saturday's match against Southern Illinois will take place at 1 p.m. at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts.
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