SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After nearly a year of not competing against another collegiate team on the courts, the Illinois State men's tennis team was back in action Monday in a doubleheader against Notre Dame. The Irish were too tough for the Redbirds, sweeping the doubleheader, 7-0 and 6-1, at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
"I am so proud of how the guys fought and competed today," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "For every guy on our team to not have played a match in over 10 months and to play as well as we did against a team that ranks in the top 30 in the country every year was incredible. With the new additions to the team, our doubles play has improved drastically, and we had our chances for sure in taking the doubles point today. I can't be more excited about this group of guys and the potential we have this spring."
The Redbirds got off to a good start in the first match, as the duo of Pol Botifoll Rius and Aleksa Lazarevic defeated Notre Dame's Matthew Halpin and Jean-Marc Malkowski at the No. 3 doubles spot. UND came back to win at the No. 1 spot to bring things down to the No. 2 doubles match to decide which team took home the first doubles point of the day. Mike Agee and Ming-Chieh Chiu took the team of Connor Fu and William Howell to the limit, however the Irish team won the match, 7-6, to give the Irish the 1-0 lead over the Redbirds.
ISU's Nam Pham (No. 3) and Chiu (No. 6) took their matches to a third set, but ultimately came up a bit short as the Irish came away with six singles wins to sweep the Redbirds, 7-0, in the first match of the day. In the second contest of the day, the Irish won the first two doubles matches to take the team doubles point and then won the first five singles matches. However, Pham made sure the Redbirds did not get swept again as he came away with a tough 7-6, 7-6 win in the final match of the day at the No. 4 spot against Notre Dame's Malkowski.
The Redbirds return to action Saturday, Jan. 23, when they hit the road to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky. That doubleheader is set to begin at 9 a.m. at Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
MATCH 1: ND (7), ISU (0)
Singles Competition
1.   Nefve (ND) def. Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) 6-1, 6-0
2.   McCormick (ND) def. Melker Isaakson (ISU) 6-1, 6-2
3.   Fu (ND) def. Nam Pham (ISU) 6-3, 1-6, 10-6
4.   Che (ND) def. Pol Botifoll Rius (ISU) 6-2, 6-0
5.   Halpin (ND) def. Mike Agee (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
6.   Mariados (ND) def. Ming-Chieh Chiu (ISU) vs. 6-3, 6-7, 10-5
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Doubles Competition
1.   McCormick/Nefve (ND) def. Le Gal Perez/Isaakson (ISU) 6-4
2.   Fu/ Howells (ND) def. Agee/Chiu (ISU) 7-6
3.   Botifoll Ruis/Aleksa Lazarevic (ISU) vs. Halpin/Malkowski (ND) 6-1
MATCH 2: ND (6), ISU (1)
Singles Competition
1.   Ciamarra (ND) def. Le Gal Perez (ISU) 6-1, 6-3
2.   Che (ND) def. Isaakson (ISU) 6-3
3.   Fu (ND) def. Botifoll Rius (ISU) 6-0, 6-0
4.   Pham (ISU) def. Malikowski (ND) 7-6, 7-6
5.   Gamble (ND) def. Agee (ISU) 6-4, 6-4
6.   Ho (ND) def. Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1.   Ciamarra/Gamble (ND) def. Le Gal Perez/Isaakson (ISU) 6-4
2.   Che/Malkowski (ND) def. Agee/Chiu (ISU) 6-2
3.   Lazarevic/Botifoll Rius (ISU) vs. Halpin/Ho (ND) 6-5 (unfinished)
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