MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Illinois State men's tennis team competed against No. 71 Middle Tennessee State Saturday, but did not have enough to earn a victory, narrowly falling 4-3.
"It's not the result we wanted, but I am proud of how we came out today against a ranked team," said head coach
Mark Klysner. "If it weren't for a few points, we could have pulled off the upset today. Jakub (Eisner) played great – exactly how a senior should. Dylan (Steffens) played smart and took care of a good player. Chris (Greve) – what can we say – he fought back and kept the streak going. To play two three-set matches back-to-back is not easy, but he showed a lot of heart."
Illinois State started competition by losing the doubles but managed to make a comeback in singles action.
Dylan Steffens earned the first singles point for the Redbirds against Robin Riethmueller, 6-3, 6-2. Steffens is now 7-0 in dual singles for the season.
Teammates
Jakub Eisner and
Christoffer Greve followed suit as they earned two singles points for Illinois State. Eisner earned the next point, overcoming No. 1 singles competitor Dima Zyhmantovich, 6-2, 6-4.
Greve earned final point, competing in No. 4 singles, against Miguel Negre, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, as Greve improved his dual singles record to 8-0 for the season.
Klysner's Redbirds will compete next week in Minneapolis, Minnesota versus Minnesota, Friday at 5 p.m.
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