April 8, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team begins its defense of the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season Championship this weekend, as it heads west to take on conference foes Creighton and Drake, Saturday and Sunday.
Last season, the Redbirds recorded a perfect 5-0 mark in conference play, led by 2010 Valley Co-Player of the Year Timon Reichelt and 2010 Valley Freshman of the Year Alexander Pelaez. The Redbirds played host to both Creighton and Drake last season, sweeping both matches, 7-0.
Head coach Cris James believes his team is poised to make another run at this year's title.
"We're excited about getting into conference play," James said. "We feel like we have as good of a chance as any of the other teams in conference to win, and we're ready to get started."
With the conference season only lasting five matches before the Valley tournament, James realizes that his team cannot afford to get off to a slow start.
"Most likely we're going to have to go undefeated if we want to win the regular-season," James said. "We're looking to start fast and take both matches this weekend, and keep on going through the rest of the conference season."
ISU will take on Creighton Saturday at 1 p.m. CST in Omaha, Neb., and Drake Sunday at 11 a.m. CST in Des Moines, Iowa.
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