ROCKFORD, Ill. – Despite winning the doubles point, the Illinois State men's tennis team lost its early lead and the match, 4-3, to Northern Illinois Friday at the Boylan Tennis Center. ISU suffered its first loss of the spring season to fall to 4-1, while NIU improved to 6-3.
"I was happy with how we competed and played doubles," Illinois State head coach Mark Klysner said. "We played today more like we are capable of playing. In singles, we had a couple of solid results, but overall, it was not our best tennis. I just don't think we played very smart collectively on each court, and we need to do a better job tomorrow when we play a tough Cleveland State squad."
Ranked No. 53 in the nation, Illinois State's doubles team of Christoffer Greve and Dylan Steffens remained undefeated in dual play by beating Tom Hjertonsson and Louis-Philippe Hamel, 6-3, in No. 3 doubles. Jakub Eisner and Egehan Sertkaya also recorded a win in No. 2 to clinch the doubles point.
With Illinois State leading, 1-0, Northern Illinois began its comeback effort by winning the top-three singles matches. After Greve and Steffens won their No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches by beating Kevin Daun and Austin Russell, respectively, in two sets, Friday's match came down to No. 4 singles between ISU's Andreas Boers and Hjertonsson. In a three-set thriller, Hjertonsson edged Boers, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, to clinch Northern Illinois' victory.
The Redbirds remain in Rockford, Illinois, to face Cleveland State at the Boylan Tennis Center Saturday at 3 p.m.
RESULTS
NIU 4, Illinois State 3
Doubles
1. Carlos Manzanas/Austin Russell (NIU) def. Andreas Boers/Rodrigo Oliveria (ISU), 7-5
2. Jakub Eisner/Egehan Sertkaya (ISU) def. Georg Lundkvist/Kevin Daun (NIU), 7-5
3. Christoffer Greve/Dylan Steffens (ISU) def. Tom Hjertonsson/Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU), 6-3
Singles
1. Carlos Manzanas (NIU) def. Jakub Eisner (ISU), 6-2, default
2. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Urh Krajnc Domiter (ISU), 6-3, 7-6
3. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Rodrigo Oliveira (ISU), 6-3, 6-1
4. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Andreas Boers (ISU), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
5. Christoffer Greve (ISU) def. Kevin Daun (NIU), 6-2, 6-1
6. Dylan Steffens (ISU) def. Austin Russell (NIU), 6-3, 6-2
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