Eastern Illinois University Athletics

EIU (2008-09): Vance went 0-2 in limited singles action... went 2-8 in doubles play winning a game each with Jamie Firth and Matyas Hilgert.... 

HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE TRANSFER: Vance played three years of tennis for Lannie Atkins at Westmoore HS, earning a trip to the state tournament... transferred to Eastern after attending Southeastern Oklahoma State, where he placed in the top ten percent of freshmen student-athletes, academically.... 

PERSONAL: Majoring in business finance... a recent No. 1 sports highlight was “playing my first match here at EIU, as I had not played for a team in two years and I felt like I earned a ‘redo’ in my tennis career”... credits his parents for influencing his tennis career, “because they have supported me in whatever I needed to do to succeed”... son of Thomas & Freda Davis.... 

FUN STUFF: Chose to come to EIU “because I felt like I could grow due to what Eastern has to offer and that I could be a better player”... is a member of EIU’s concert choir and Camarata... currently driving a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer... loves to eat Japanese food, but hates anything with onions and tomatoes... since coming to EIU he has learned “that I can’t be everywhere at once”... ‘Ginger’ is the name of his dog... his advice for a younger athletes is “to work harder than you think”... his favorite quote is “Make it work” from Tim Gunn, “because it works for everything, just making things work is a challenge in life”.... 

BLACKBURN SAYS: Vance really came on strong late in the year for us in the doubles lineup... he is a very hard worker in practice and that paid off for him and the team late in the year... he brings a lot of energy to the court and leads by example with his work ethic... it will be exciting to see how he develops in his second year with us.”