Redbirds Continue Homestand Against Bellarmine

NORMAL, Ill. – Winners of four-straight matches, the Illinois State men's tennis team returns to action on Sunday when the Redbirds host Bellarmine at Noon at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington.

"This is going to be a really tough match on Sunday," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "Bellarmine has gotten stronger each year and have some really good results so far, so I expect this will be a close match. We've had really good practices this week, so I know we will be ready."

About The Redbirds
•    The Redbirds (4-3) are on a roll as winners of four-straight matches, after dropping their first three of the season on the road.
•    ISU picked up three wins last week, with a midweek win over Lindenwood and a doubleheader sweep of Eastern Illinois and Prairie State College.
•    In what might be one of the strangest records in collegiate tennis, all four of ISU's wins have been 7-0 sweep however all three of their losses to begin the season were also via 7-0 sweeps.
•    The Redbirds have been led by seniors Nam Pham and Arvid Hjalte who are both playing top tennis at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots for ISU of late.

About The Knights
•    The Knights (1-6) have had a challenging nonconference slate that has included four Power-5 opponents in their first seven matches. 
•    Bellarmine fell 5-2 to No. 19 Michigan State in its most recent contest, but the performance was highly encouraging as the Knights were in the mix for the win.
•    Senior Kyle Tang and sophomore Eli Wood were victorious at No. 4 and 6 singles to level the match at 2-all. 
•    Junior Jack Batchelor, at No. 1, and sophomore Vineet Ramesh, at No. 3, were both involved in third sets. In addition, freshman Louie Fletcher engaged in a first-set tiebreaker at No. 5.
•    Batchelor and Ramesh are tied for the team lead in singles wins with nine and junior Xavier Ecarma is next with seven. 

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.