NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State started its spring slate last weekend with a three matches in New York at the Arthur Ashe Invite and continue that road swing this weekend, as the Redbirds travel west for a Saturday match at Tulsa and a pair of matches on Sunday at Arkansas.
"The boys have been practicing very well during the last two weeks and they are prepared and exited to play these two strong teams this weekend," ISU assistant coach Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe said. "The goal is to take all the opportunities that they will create during the match, gain confidence and win as many as we can. We will use these matches to prepare ourselves for what is coming up on the schedule in the next few weeks."
The Redbirds dropped all three matches last weekend at the Arthur Ashe Invite to open the spring season against Florida Atlantic, DePaul and Army. The last two matches could have gone either way, but ISU was bested 4-3 in close finishes in both matches. Against DePaul, Melker Isaksson and Diego Le Gal Perez took down the No. 2 DePaul doubles team and Pol Botifoll Rius, Dominick Cuchran and Isaksson each picked up singles wins. In the weekend finale against host Army, the Redbirds earned singles wins from Nam Pham, Diego Emilio Moura Herrera and Isaksson to nearly come away with the team victory.
Saturday's match against Tulsa will take place at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at approximately 6 p.m., following Tulsa's match earlier in the day against Purdue. Last weekend, Tulsa was bested by Cal in its spring season opener by a score of 4-3. Tulsa started off on the right track by winning the doubles point, but Cal would bounce back in the singles, winning four of the decisions to take the match. Kody Pearson and Connor Di Marco were the lone Tulsa singles to win their matches.
A trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the Razorbacks awaits the Redbirds on Sunday, with a pair of matches scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center. Arkansas began the spring season with a big win over the No. 30 Oklahoma State in Fayetteville on Monday. The Hogs clinched the match after sweeping the first four points against the Cowboys and ultimately won, 5-2.Â
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