Tennis: OU sweeps through Illinois State

The University of Oklahoma men’s tennis team picked up where they left off on Saturday as they completed play at the 2007-08 Shocker Invitational.

OU burst out of the gates with five consecutive singles victories to begin the morning against Illinois State.

After dropping only one match all day on Saturday the Sooners picked up seven total victories on Sunday that also included two doubles victories against the Redbirds.

Junior Sergey Avdeyev defeated Nuno Jacinto, 6-1, 6-1.  Freshman Ionut Beleleu defeated Oscar Beich, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, for his first career singles victory.  Freshman Alex Joitoiu defeated Xavier Riart-Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4, for his second-career singles victory.  Freshman Vlad Marinescu defeated Daniel Tobar, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, for his second straight sets victory in as many days.  Senior Ryan Thomas continued his solid play as he disposed of Michael Hobson, 6-2, 6-4.

“We are excited about the way we performed this weekend,” head coach Paul Lockwood said.  “Obviously we know that we have a lot more tennis to play but this is a great way to begin the season.”