NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team began its two-match weekend in the state of Indiana on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis against Butler, as the Redbirds came up short against the Bulldogs, 5-2.
Butler picked up an early win at the No. 3 doubles spots, before the ISU duo of Diego Le Gal Perez and Melker Isaakson tied things up with a 6-2 win over Butler's Drew Michael and Ryan Roegner at the No. 2 spot. However, Aleksa Lazarevic and Diego Emilio Moura Herrera were edged out, 6-4, at the No. 1 spot as the Bulldogs picked up the doubles point.
In singles action, Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe earned the Redbirds a point and tied the match at 1-1 early by defeating Olof Wiklund (7-5, 6-4) at the No. 4 spot to start things off. Butler took the next three matches, with Pol Botifoll Rius taking Thomas Brennan to the limit before eventually falling in three sets at the No. 1 spot. Isaakson continued his strong play in the match with a win at the No. 5 spot (6-3, 6-4) to pick up the second point for the Redbirds, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs closed things out for the victory.
The Redbirds will continue play tomorrow in Muncie, Indiana, when they take on Ball State at 1 p.m.
Butler (5), ISU (2)
Doubles:
Thomas Brennan/Olof Wiklund (BU) def. Aleksa Lazarevic/Diego Emilio Moura Herrera (ISU) 6-4
Diego Le Gal Perez/Melker Isaakson (ISU) def. Drew Michael/Ryan Roegner (BU) 6-2
Alvaro Huete/Zach Trimpe (BU) def. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe/Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson (ISU) 6-2
Singles:
Thomas Brennan (BU) def. Pol Botifoll Rius (ISU) 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
Alvaro Huete (BU) def. Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) 7-5, 7-6
Filip Tening (BU) def. Diego Emilio Moura Herrera (ISU) 6-1, 7-6
Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe (ISU) def. Olof Wiklund (BU) 7-5, 6-4
Melker Isaakson (ISU) def. Ryan Roegner (BU) 6-3, 6-4
Michael Karr (BU) def. Nam Pham (ISU) 7-5, 6-3
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