MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – In its first match at the MTSU Shootout, the Illinois State men's tennis team battled Friday afternoon against No. 4 seeded Middle Tennessee, but the No. 5 Redbirds were unable to record a point in the match and lost, 4-0. The loss marked the Redbirds' third straight.
"I felt like we had our chances today," said head coach Mark Klysner. "The double's point came down to the last match. In singles, we were in every match and gave ourselves a chance to win."
The Redbirds (6-10, 0-1 MVC) began the afternoon dropping the doubles point for the third-consecutive match. Sophomore Dylan Steffens and freshman Christoffer Greve paired for a Redbird victory over Middle Tennessee's Born and Issa, 6-3, but the Blue Raiders tied it up with a victory in the No. 3 flight against the Redbirds' Jacob Wilson and Rory Samuels, 6-2. Middle Tennessee eventually secured the point with a 6-4 win over ISU's Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas in the No. 1 flight
Illinois State remained competitive in singles play against the Blue Raiders, but could not notch a flight victory. Eisner, Wilson and Samuels were all beaten in their respective single flights, while Torrellas, Steffens and Greve's flights went unfinished.
"We just lost too many deuce points," said Klysner. "That was the difference today. We'll look to rebound against Binghamton University tomorrow."
The Redbirds will continue MTSU Shootout action Saturday when they face off against No. 8 seeded Binghamton University at 10 a.m. Â
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