KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Illinois State men's tennis team opened its fall season Sept. 21, 2018 with day one of WMU-Vredevelt Invitational at the Sorensen Courts in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Play included three rounds of four flights of doubles.
"We were little rusty and rough today in doubles since it was our first tournament this year" assistant coach Michal Kianicka said. "However this young team has a lot of potential and which was proven when Diego and Egehan beat strong Purdue team. We are looking forward to build some momentum tomorrow."
In round one, Egehan Sertkaya and Diego Le Gal Perez earned a flight one win over Purdue's Franz Luna and Marksymilian Raupuk, 6-3. Pol Botifoll Rius and Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe came up short against Western Michigan's Jannik Opitz and Lenhard Haupt, 6-1, in flight two. Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson and Cameron Petersen were defeated in the third flight by WMU's Peter Kuszynski and Kris Knof, 6-2. In the final flight, Brandon Lew and and Diego Emilio Moura Herrera were overcome by Western Michigan's Matej Svjetlicic and Zac Faveri, 6-3.
After the win in round one, the Redbirds suffered losses in all four flights of doubles in round two. In the third round, Sertkaya and Perez battled Western Michigan's Nick Schnobel and Eric Olivarez, but ultimately came up short, falling 7-5. Ruis and Bartra earned a victory in the final round, defeating DePaul's Luuk Wassenaar and Conor O'Meara, 6-4. In flights three and four, Illinois State was overcome in round four.
The 'Birds will return to the court Saturday, Sept. 22 to compete in day two of the WMU-Vredevelt Invitational with singles rounds at the Sorensen Courts
To follow the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational, click here.
Illinois State will compete Saturday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Sept. 30 to participate in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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