Feb. 23, 2012
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team will take on DePaul in Chicago at the Lake Shore Sport and Fitness Center Friday at 7:00 p.m. before its home match against Cleveland State at the Evergreen Racquet Club Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Head coach Cris James feels his team is well prepared for an action packed weekend.
"I keep saying if we play at our top level we are pretty good," said James. "We will need to play with the same kind of energy and enthusiasm that we have been playing with lately to give ourselves the best chance to win."
James believes both DePaul and Cleveland State will provide his team with good competition that will help them continue to develop.
"Both of the teams we are playing will provide good tests for us," said James. "We have had really close matches with DePaul the last two years and I expect the same this year. Cleveland State is talented. They have won their conference for about four years in a row now. We beat them last year but they have a lot of new guys in the lineup so I'm excited to see how it goes."
The Redbirds won 2-of-2 home matches last weekend, beating Xavier, 4-3, and Iowa, 5-2. Standouts included Tuomas Manner and Alexander Pelaez who made a huge comeback in No. 1 doubles action against Iowa, 9-8. Manner had an impressive undefeated weekend.
Playing with determination and the will to win are the expectations James has for his team going into the weekend.
"I think the reason we had so much success against Xavier and Iowa last weekend was because we had six guys out there fighting," said James. "We have to stay really constant throughout the entire match without a lot of up and down swings."
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