Redbirds Drop MVC Opener at No. 29 Drake

DES MOINES, Iowa – Illinois State men's tennis was swept by No. 29 Drake, 7-0, in the Redbirds' Missouri Valley Conference opener Sunday afternoon at Roger Knapp Tennis Center. ISU fell to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the MVC, while Drake improved to 13-3 and 1-0.

"We played a real tough and experienced team tonight," said head coach Mark Klysner. "With a couple of players out due to sickness and injury, we had other guys on the team who stepped in and did a great job competing. We had our chances on each court." 

Drake earned the doubles point to claim an early lead which it never relinquished, as Andreas Boers and Jacob Wilson fell in No. 3 doubles to Ben Mullis and Alen Salibasic, 8-1. Dylan Steffens and Christoffer Greve then dropped an 8-5 decision to Matt Frost and Ravi Patel in No. 2 doubles. Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas lost a tight No. 1 doubles match, 8-7 (7-4), to Ben Lott and Bayo Phillips.

In singles competition, Eisner lost his No. 1 flight match to Salibasic, 6-2, 6-2. Urh Krajnc Domiter fell in No. 2 singles to Ben Lott, 6-2, 6-2. Wilson dropped his No. 3 match. 6-3, 6-1, to Patel. Boers lost in No. 4 singles to Frost, 6-4, 7-5. Mullins edged Greve in No. 6 singles, 7-5, 6-4. And, Torrellas was defeated in the No. 5 flight, 7-5, 6-4, by Ben Stride.

"Drake maybe ranked in the top 30, but we stayed right with them," said Klysner. "I like what I saw moving forward for this coming week." 

With their conference opener complete, the Redbirds resume non-conference play this Saturday, March 7 at Portland for a match set to begin at 12 p.m. CT.

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