June 20, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis program, which finished second during the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season, ended the 2010-11 campaign ranked as the No. 9 team in the Midwest Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
With the No. 9 regional ranking, the Redbirds were the highest-ranked team in the region from a non-Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference. Head men's tennis coach Cris James was obviously pleased with the announcement.
"While it has not been a stated goal of ours, we certainly are proud of being the top non-BCS team in our region and to be ranked in the top-10 in a region with several national powerhouses," James said. "It is a good accomplishment and a nice benchmark for our team."
In addition, the ISU doubles tandem of Timon Reichelt and Alexander Pelaez finished the season as the No. 6 doubles team in the Midwest Region by ITA, which was also the highest-ranked team from a non-BCS school. Reichelt and Pelaez were also ranked No. 74 by the ITA in the national rankings and were the only players from the Valley to earn a national ranking in either doubles or singles.
"Alex and Timon had a great year," James said. "Had they not had one or two tough losses at the wrong time, they may have ended up ranked much higher as well. At times this year, I felt like they could compete with absolutely anyone in the country in doubles and they had a tremendous record and really carried our team at the No. 1 doubles position for most of the season."
With the doubles ranking, the Redbirds have now had a nationally-ranked doubles team in three of the last four seasons under James.
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