Sept. 14, 2012
Stats
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team won four of five singles matches Friday at the Vredevelt Invite hosted by Western Michigan. The Redbirds came back after being defeated in doubles and played strong in singles action.
Michael Sellitto's performance in his first singles match for Illinois State was stellar, as he defeated Nolan Marks of Cleveland State, 6-3 and 6-0, in the No. 5 spot for ISU.
"I was very impressed with Michael," said ISU head coach Cris James. "This was his first win as a Redbird and he played very tough mentally."
Erik Brunskog pulled through with his first win for Illinois State by defeating Dougie Barnard of Notre Dame, 6-2 and 6-4. Jacob Wilson also defeated Jay Jones of CSU, 6-3 and 6-1, in the No. 4 position for the `Birds, while Alexander Pelaez defeated Ryan Bandy of Notre Dame, 6-3 and 7-5.
"Alex faced a pretty good player and was challenged a little bit, but came through in tough moments," said James. "Overall, it was a good performance."
Despite the Redbird's success in singles play, the team struggled in doubles action earlier in the day. Pelaez and Brunskog lost to Jimmy Roebker and Mesa Mei of Xavier, 8-6, while Muddappa Appanervanda and Sellitto were defeated by Ryan Bandy and Adam Krull of Notre Dame, 8-3.
James was disappointed with the team's overall performance in doubles but knows his team has time to improve.
"It is early in the season and this is the first time some of these players have played together," said James. "We have some stuff to build on."
The Redbirds will continue play at the Vredevelt Invite beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. with doubles play. Singles action will begin 10:15 a.m., and at the conclusion of the first round of singles play, there will be a 90-minute break. The teams will then return to action in the afternoon for conclusion of the singles matches.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
