March 17, 2012
NEW ORLEANS -
The Illinois State men's tennis team received a victory Saturday at the Goldring Tennis Center in New Orleans against St. John's, 4-3. Included in the Redbirds' victory was a win by Alexander Pelaez against No. 40 Vasko Mladenov in singles play.
Pelaez and Tuomas Manner started the day strong, beating Milo Hauk Ilija Vucic in the No. 1 spot, 8-6. Muddappa Appanervanda and Willi Peter had a big win, coming out on top against No. 77 Vasko Mladenov and Stefan Bojic, 8-6, in the No. 2 position. In the No. 3 spot, Skip Span and Jusso Ojanen lost to Valentin Mihai and Mike Lampa, 8-2.
"Muddappa and Willi came through pretty big in doubles," said head coach Cris James. "Getting the doubles point definitely helped get our confidence up going into singles action.
Singles play started out well with a win in the No. 1 position by Pelaez against Vasko Mladenov, 6-3, 7-5. Manner fell to Milo Hauk in the No. 2 spot, 7-5, 6-1 while Span dropped in the No. 3 position to Ilija Vucic, 6-4, 6-4.
James was pleased with the performances given by Ojanen and Appanervanda in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots.
"Jusso came through in two clutch situations today," said James. "Muddappa also came out fighting so I was impressed with both of their performances. We won 2-of-3 matches in the bottom of our lineup which was great to see and a really great improvement. I was very pleased."
In the No. 4 position, Ojanen beat Stefan Bojic, 7-6, 1-6, 6-2 as Appanervanda won his match in the No. 5 spot against Mike Lampa, 7-5, 6-2. In the No. 6 position, Peter dropped to Matty Najfeld, 7-5, 6-3.
Overall, James was impressed with the effort given by his team throughout all three of their spring break matches and was especially impressed with the determination given against St. John's.
"We fought really hard today, which we've been doing, but we had some guys really come through when it mattered," said James. "St. John's is a strong team so it was a really good win for us. I am hopeful that this win will give us some confidence moving forward. We've been improving all year, and though the improving never stops, we have to feel good about this win, for sure."
The `Birds will be back in action Saturday March 31 against USF in Tampa, Fla.
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