Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Men's Tennis to Compete in MVC Championships
04/30/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
April 26, 2001
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (3-15, 1-8 MVC) will take the #9 seed into the 2001 Men's Missouri Valley Conference Team Tennis Championships on April 27-29.
SIU, picked ninth in the pre-championship poll, will face #8 seed Creighton (10-12, 2-7 MVC) at 9 a.m. Friday in the opening round of the tournament. The Salukis enter the tournament on a five game losing skid that ended with a 6-1 loss to Creighton last Sunday, April 22.
"Creighton will be a tough match. I do think that we'll have our chances even though we ended the season losing to them 6-1. The doubles point is a real key. We have to get the doubles point against Creighton," said Missy Jeffrey, Saluki head coach. "Alon Savidor (#2 singles) has a great chance of winning and Peter Bong (3# singles) won his match against Creighton. If we get the doubles point and Peter and Alon win, we just need one of the other four guys to come through. Brian Blake played tough in his loss against Creighton so he has a shot to get a win."
Jeffrey feels SIU has a chance to surprise some people since the Salukis struggled to win matches during the regular season.
"People don't expect us to win, we're the obvious underdog. Most teams will probably overlook us since they beat us earlier this season. There's no pressure on us and I think the team's pretty excited about the tournament," added Jeffrey. "I hope to catch some teams underestimating us. We have some very capable players on our team that can come through. If everyone plays well at the same time we can really surprise some people."
Despite a less than stellar record this season a win or two at the MVC Tournament can change the whole outlook of the season.
"We have not won a lot of matches this season, but this MVC Tournament is what finalizes our season and determines how we did. People will look back at records and this tournament to see how our season went. They can put everything behind them, play their hearts out and see what happens," stated Jeffrey. "I'd like to be in a better position but I do believe that we can win some matches. Anyone we upset will be exciting because no one expects it. It could change the way we look back on the season."
The Salukis play Creighton at 9 a.m. with the winner advancing to face top seed Indiana State on Saturday at 3 p.m. and the loser playing another first round loser on Saturday at 9 a.m. in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
SIU finished eighth in 2000. The pre-championship poll ranks the teams as follows: 1.Indiana State, 2.Drake, 3. Illinois State, 4.Northern Iowa, 5.Wichita State, 6. Southwest Missouri State, 7.Evansville, 8. Creighton, 9. Southern Illinois and 10. Bradley.
