Jan. 20, 2012
Des Moines, Iowa -
The Illinois State men's tennis team competed in the State Farm MVC Individual Championship Friday at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines, Iowa. All five `Birds advanced to the next round of singles play which will begin 9 a.m. Saturday.
Alexander Pelaez started out the day strong beating Matheus Pereira from Wichita State, 6-3, 6-4. He continued to play well defeating Southern Illinois' Badr Cherradi, 6-2, 6-2. Tuomas Manner was defeated by Drake's Jean Erasmus, 6-0, 7-6 (6) before beating Creighton's JT Christian, 6-4, 6-3. Skip Span defeated James McKie from Drake, 6-3, 7-6 as well as Southern Illinois' Brandon Florez, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Jordan Badenko was beat by Tomislav Gregurovic from Wichita State, 6-2, 6-4 before turning it around to beat Creighton's Ryan Norman, 6-3, 6-4. Drake's Robin Goodman beat Willi Peter, 6-2, 6-3. Finishing strong, Peter defeated Southern Illinois' Rafael Cuadrillero, 6-1, 6-1.
Head Coach Cris James was proud of his team's performance, especially standouts, Pelaez and Span.
"Alex and Skip did well today," said James. "Alex beat a nationally ranked player which was great and he is capable of getting nationally ranked in singles play himself, he just needs to continue to take these opportunities and beat strong competition. Skip beat a guy from Drake that he has lost to a couple times in the past so I know he was pretty pumped about that."
Pelaez' injury had potential of limiting his capability on the court.
"Alex is feeling a little bit of tightness in his back," said James. "Some days he feels the limitations the injury puts on his play and other days he feels just fine. He is determined to play through it and hopefully this weekend it will continue to hold out."
James admired the improvement of his player's mental toughness on the court.
"Skip and Alex, our captains, as well as our older guys defiantly lead the team in being mentally tough on the court," said James. "Our new guys are continuing to work on being more confident and believing in themselves. I know they will get there, it just takes some time."
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