RESULTS
WICHITA, Kan. – With a 4-2 win over UMBC in the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championship quarterfinal round Friday morning at the Crestview Country Club, the Illinois State men's tennis team advanced to Saturday's 10 a.m. semifinal matchup versus host Wichita State.
"I'm really pleased with how we kept up the intensity and focus stemming from out last match," said head coach Mark Klysner. "We played some solid doubles and that for sure gave us a nice advantage leading into singles. UMBC came out firing in singles and took a couple of matches off of us. The guys managed to keep their composure though. With Chris winning comfortably and Urh playing some of his better tennis all year winning at number one, it really just came down to Dylan clinching it for us. He's been instrumental at closing out matches for us. We are really looking forward to the semifinals now."
No. 3 seeded Illinois State gained a 1-0 lead over No. 2 seeded UMBC early by taking the doubles point. The first win came from the duo of Christoffer Greve and DylanSteffens over the team of Justin Carter and Alex Drean, 6-2. The team of Rodrigo Oliveira and Rolando Torrellas clinched the doubles point for ISU by besting opponents Biyik Akinshemoyin and Kevin Hsieh, 6-4.
Greve and Steffens continued this attack in singles play, as they earned two more points for Illinois State. Greve was first to win a point for the Redbirds in singles competition, beating Eliott Loubatie, 6-3, 7-5. This gave the Redbirds a 2-1 advantage over UMBC. Urh Krajnc Domiter obtained the second singles point by defeating Justin Carter, 7-5, 6-2. Domiter's point kept Illinois State ahead with a 3-2 lead. The final point to seal an ISU victory over UMBC came at the hands of Steffens who bested Kevin Hsieh, 6-3, 6-0.
Now 10-13, the Redbirds advance to the MVC Team Championship semifinals where ISU will face No. 1 seeded Wichita State Saturday at 10 a.m.
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