ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Juniors Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas led the Illinois State men's tennis team to an undefeated day in doubles play at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships Friday afternoon.
The Redbird duo bested Sergiu Muresan and Mario Noboa of Chicago State, 8-4. Senior Muddappa Appanervanda and junior Rodrigo Oliveira also won their doubles match, beating Illinois' Brian Page and Aleks Vukic, 8-6.
"We started off the day with some really great play," said head coach Mark Klysner. "That was exactly what we needed after Thursday's play."
The Redbirds did, however, have another tough day in singles play Friday at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Fourth-seeded Ralf Steinbach of Ohio State defeated senior Jacob Wilson in straight sets 6-1, 6-1, while sophomore Urh Krajnc Domiter played a tough match against 13-seeded Aron Hiltzik of Illinois, but lost 7-6 (3), 7-5.
"We suffered a couple of losses [in singles] but against two highly ranked guys," said Klysner. "We didn't play bad so it was overall a pretty good day."
Eisner, Torrellas, Appanervanda, and Oliveira will all be back in action at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in the second round of doubles on Saturday, with matches set to begin no earlier than 2 p.m.
Results (10-17-14)
First Round Doubles
Jakub Eisner/Rolando Torrellas (ISU) def. Sergiu Muresan/Mario Noboa (CSU) 8-4
Muddappa Appanervanda/Rodrigo Oliveira (ISU) def. Brian Page/Aleks Vukic (UI) 8-6
First Round Main Singles
Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Jacob Wilson (ISU) 6-1, 6-1
Aron Hiltzik (UI) def. Urh Krajnc Domiter (ISU) 7-6 (3), 7-5
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
