Feb. 16, 2012
NORMAL, Ill. -
Aniko Kiss leads the Illinois State women's tennis team as it returns to the road, Feb. 17-18, to compete against Missouri (Friday) and St. Louis (Saturday). Kiss currently holds a record of 3-2 in No. 1 singles, 1-2 in No.1 doubles and 2-0 in No. 2 doubles.
"We are practicing hard, and if we play like last weekend, we will do great," said Kiss. "Missouri will be tough, but we can play on their level. We should be able to win some matches hopefully. We are playing way better then when we started the season."
Missouri hosts the Redbirds during its "Pink Out" event, which promotes breast cancer awareness on Friday. The Tigers face ISU with an overall record of 2-3, despite being ranked #72 in the nation.
Illinois State is looking for its fourth-straight away victory over St. Louis, having defeated the Billikens in every dual match since 2006. SLU heads into play with an undefeated spring season, coming off of a sweep of Western Illinois, 7-0.
Despite facing challenging opponents, head coach Chris Hoover believes the team in a position to achieve.
"It's going to be a dog fight this weekend," said Hoover. "The team is getting better and competing harder. We're facing some evenly-matched opponents, so I expect every student-athlete to make some nice progress and bring home some wins. I'm looking forward to it."
Illinois State begins the weekend on Friday at 5 p.m. against Missouri. The team moves on to face St. Louis on Saturday, beginning play at 1 p.m.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
