NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team will be on the road for the second straight week, traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana this Saturday to take on Chicago State and IPFW.
"This weekend should be a good test for our guys," said head coach Mark Klysner. "We are playing two teams that are both capable of beating us if we don't play some good tennis. We played a tough schedule to open the spring and got to see where we stand with two nationally ranked teams, and I thought we competed well and had our chances to score some points off of them."
Illinois State (1-3) is coming off a couple of strong doubles performances from a number of duos last weekend. Senior Muddappa Appanervanda and junior Rodrigo Oliveira paired up for two doubles wins, while underclassmen Urh Krajnc Domiter and Andreas Boers also nabbed two victories of their own.
However, if the Redbirds are to sweep the matches and get back to .500, they will have to step it up in singles play. In their three losses, the team has a combined 0-11 record.
"I am looking for our singles play to start a little faster," said Klysner. "We played some very tight first sets and I think we need to focus a little more on starting off with the same intensity that we've shown in the doubles."
Illinois State will hope to keep its undefeated streak against Chicago State intact this weekend, going a perfect 5-0 versus the Cougars all-time. That match is slated for a 4 p.m. start Saturday, followed by a 7 p.m. matchup with IPFW.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
