LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Illinois State men's tennis earned six wins on day one of the Louisville Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky, with each contending Redbird contributing to the total number of victories.
"Shout out to Egehan for winning two rounds today and extending his winning streak at this tournament, which he won last year," head coach Mark Klysner said.
Egehan Sertkaya opened up his tournament season on a high note, clinching a victory over UT Chattanooga's Michael Birnbaum, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Sertkaya earned a second victory over DePaul's Conor O'Meara, 6-4, 6-4.
"Today was a super long and tough day for the guys, but we had a lot of good results to build off of heading into tomorrow," Klysner said.
Igor Kolaric followed suit with a win over Toledo's Vince Anzalon, 6-4, 6-3, before falling to Lipscomb's Alejandro Manzanares, 6-1, 6-3.
Manuel Bernhard defeated Toledo's Thawin Sukksathaporn in a tight match, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6. However, Bernhard dropped his second match to DePaul's Chris Casati, 6-2, 6-3.
Brandon Lew beat out Xavier's Matt Graft, 6-3, 1-0, ret., to bring home a win for the Redbirds before dropping a second match to DePaul's Tripp Tuff, 6-2, 6-4.
In doubles, Bernhard and Cameron Peterson defeated Xavier's Alex Vrba and Matt Graft, 8-7, after Peterson came up short in a three-setter against DePaul's Fran Tonejc, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in singles.                                       Â
Kolaric and Sertkaya fell to Lipscomb's Alejandro Manzanares and Victor Chaw, 8-6, in the flight A doubles. Pairing up with Butler's Addison Cazier, Lew and Cazier received a bye into the semifinal round of doubles.
The Redbirds will resume play Saturday at 8 a.m. with one round of doubles, and two rounds of singles.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.ÂÂÂÂ
                                                                                                    ###
