BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team won its third-straight match Sunday afternoon, defeating Eastern Illinois, 6-1, at Evergreen Racquet Club.
"It wasn't our best tennis, but I think that comes with not playing in two weeks," said head coach Mark Klysner. "The guys were a little rusty, but they stepped up and did what we had to do."Â
The Redbirds (4-3) notched the doubles point Sunday, with sophomore Dylan Steffens and freshman Christoffer Greve looking impressive in defeating EIU (0-7) freshmen Grant Reimen and Trent Reimen in the third flight, 6-3. Junior duo Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas sealed the doubles point with the pair's third-straight victory, a 7-5 win over the Panthers' Robert Skolik and Preston Touliatos in the first flight.
The momentum carried over into singles play, where the Redbirds took five of the six matches. Torrellas set the tone early with a victory over EIU's David Contantinescu, 6-2, 6-2, in No. 5 singles.
"[Torrellas'] whole game is based on his serves," said Klysner. "He served well again today, and he beat a pretty good player."
Junior Rodrigo Oliveira and freshman Andreas Boers followed with straight-set wins of their own, with Oliveira beating the Panthers' Rui Silva, 7-6, 6-1, and Boers defeating Grant Reimen, 6-4, 6-2. Eisner and sophomore Urh Krajnc Domiter also recorded singles wins for the Redbirds Sunday.
The Redbirds will be back in action this Wednesday when they travel to Kentucky to take on Louisville. The match is set for a 1:30 p.m. start time.
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