NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State men's tennis took a tough loss, 6-1, to host Wisconsin Saturday morning, but bounced back and swept Chicago State, 7-0, at the Nielson Tennis Center in the second match of the day for the Redbirds.
"I am very pleased with how the matches went today. I thought we played very well against Wisconsin and again really put ourselves in a position where we could pull out some matches," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "The second match today was all business. The guys played with a lot of intensity and focus and got the job done."
Illinois State came up short in the first match of the day against Wisconsin, ISU's second Big Ten foe of the week after previously taking on Northwestern on Wednesday. Wisconsin swept the doubles matchup to earn the first point of the day and took five of the six singles matches. Melker Isaksson battled hard at the number five spot and defeated Scott Sculley in singles action (6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11) to give the Redbirds their lone point. Freshman Nam Pham nearly pulled off another victory but was defeated by Robin Parts, 13-11, in the tiebreaker.
During Illinois State's second match against Chicago State, the Redbirds swept the Cougars in singles and doubles action for the 7-0 win. In doubles competition, Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe and Diego Le Gal Perez defeated CSU Plaza and Suler (6-3) and the duo of Isaksson and Brandon Lew took down Chicago State's Sanchez/Kolaric, 6-3. ISU had little trouble in singles action against the Cougars, with each of ISU's five players winning in straight sets.
The Redbirds continue the spring campaign on Friday Jan. 24, with home matches against Illinois-Springfield and Eastern Illinois at the Bloomington Tennis Center in Bloomington, Illinois. The first match begins at 10 a.m., with the second match scheduled for 6 p.m.
Wisconsin 6, Illinois State 1
Singles Competition
1. Chase Colton (WIS) def. Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) 6-1, 6-4
2. Lenard Soha (WIS) def. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe (ISU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Jared Pratt (WIS) def. Pol Botifoll Rius (ISU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Robin Parts (WIS) def. Nam Pham (ISU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (13-11)
5. Melker Isaksson (ISU) def. Scott Sculley (WIS) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11)
6. Robert Krill (WIS) def. Aleksa Lazarevic (ISU) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. Scott Sculley/Lenard Soha (WIS) def. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe/Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) 6-2
2. Jared Pratt/Chase Colton (WIS) def. Melker Isaksson/Brandon Lew (ISU) 6-1
3. Gabriel Huber/Robin Parts (WIS) vs. Pol Botifoll Rius/Aleksa Lazarevic (ISU) unfinished
Illinois State 7, Chicago State 0
Singles Competition:
1. Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) def. Suler (CSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe (ISU) def. Plaza (CSU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Nam Pham (ISU) def. Sanchez (CSU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Pol Boltiful Rius (ISU) def. Kolaric (CSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Melker Isacksson (ISU) def. Wurzelbacher (CSU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles Competition:
1. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe/Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) def. Plaza/Suler (CSU) 6-3
2. Melker Isaksson/Brandon Lew (ISU) def. Sanchez/Kolaric (CSU) 6-3
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