NORMAL, Ill. – In his final home match as a Redbird, senior Jacob Wilson battled Wichita State's Tomislav Gregurovic for three sets before dropping the final super set, 10-8, as the Illinois State men's tennis team was defeated by the Shockers Saturday afternoon, 6-1.
Illinois State (9-11, 1-2) struggled out of the gate, dropping all three doubles matches. Juniors Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas could not gain much momentum in their No. 1 flight against WSU's Tomislav Gregurovic and Tin Ostojic, losing 8-2. Senior duo Muddappa Appanervanda and Wilson paired for an 8-4 loss in the No. 3 flight to the Shockers' Jocelyn Devilliers and Miroslav Herzan, while sophomore Dylan Steffens and freshman Christoffer Greve were beaten in their No. 2 flight match as well, 8-3.
"We just didn't play that well in doubles," said head coach Mark Klysner. "[Wichita State] just played better today."
From there, the Redbirds were not able to recover in singles play, losing five of the six flights. Greve's eight-match win streak was snapped by WSU's Guillermo de Vilchez in the No. 4 flight, 6-3, 6-4. The loss is only Greve's third on the season. Junior Rodrigo Oliveira, Torrellas and Steffens were also defeated in straight-sets in their respective flights.
The one bright spot on the day was Eisner and his victory over No. 40 Ostojic in the No. 1 flight. Eisner sealed the win in straight-sets against Ostojic, 6-3, 6-4, controlling the flight the entire match.
"[Ostojic] has been as high as top 30 in the country this year," said Klysner. "He is a really good player and hasn't lost a ton of matches. I honestly think that was the best match I've seen [Eisner] play in the two years I've been here. It was definitely a sign of what he's capable of doing, and it is just nice for him to do it against a quality opponent like that."
Illinois State will have to rebound quickly, as the Redbirds will head to St. Louis, Missouri next weekend to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference championships, April 17-19.
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