NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team closed out its regular-season against conference opponent Wichita State last Saturday, and will head to St. Louis this weekend to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Despite the 1-6 loss to the Shockers, the Redbirds are riding a bit of momentum into the conference championship, winning three of their last four matches.
If Illinois State (9-11, 1-2) is going to make a run in the MVC tournament, the Redbirds will have to improve in doubles play. In its last 10 matches, ISU has only secured the doubles point twice. The hottest ISU doubles pair currently is sophomore Dylan Steffens and freshman Christoffer Greve, whose seven doubles victories are good for second-best on the team. Junior doubles duo Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas began the season on fire, winning four-straight matches, but have struggled since, going 3-7 in their last 10 matches together.
Illinois State, however, has only lost five of those 10 matches, thanks in part to the strong play in singles competition. On three separate occasions this season, the Redbirds have lost the doubles point but rallied for four singles wins to come out victorious. The most recent comeback happened in a match against conference foe Southern Illinois earlier this month, where the Redbirds erased a 0-3 deficit to steal the match from the Salukis, 4-3.
Greve has been the strongest Redbird singles player, recording a team-leading 11 victories to only three losses. At one point this spring, Greve had won eight-straight matches before Guillermo de Vilchez of Wichita State snapped his winning streak last Saturday. His stellar play moved him from the No. 5 flight to the No. 4 flight, where Greve has gone an impressive 4-1.
The Redbirds will also rely on the veteran leadership from redshirt-senior Muddappa Appanervanda and senior Jacob Wilson to go far into this year's MVC tournament. Battling injuries most of this season, Appanervanda is expected to play this weekend, while Wilson will hope to snap is two-match losing skid.
This year's tournament will combine members from both the MVC as well as the America East Conference. Illinois State will start play at 9 a.m. Friday, facing off against AEC opponent Stony Brook. For more information, visit MVC Tournament Central.
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