MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A weekend trip to Nashville for the Illinois State men's tennis team began Friday night in Murfreesboro against Middle Tennessee, and the Blue Raiders controlled the match from the beginning as they picked up a 7-0 win over the Redbirds at the Adams Tennis Complex.
"Tonight was a tough test for the boys," ISU head coach Mark Klysner. "We got a slow start in the doubles, which you can't do against the best teams in the country, but we will certainly take that as a positive as to what we need to improve on tomorrow. I felt like we competed well in singles after some of the nerves went away and we calmed down. It took a set for the guys to settle and then our tennis level definitely picked up in all of the second sets. We have some key things to focus on for tomorrow's match, which I think will only make us better."
The doubles point went to the Blue Raiders early and they kept the momentum heading into the singles matches, winning five out of the six matchups in straight sets. Diego Le Gal Perez got out to a lead at the No. 3 spot against Francisco Rocha with a 6-2 win in the first set, but Rocha bounced back to win the final two sets to earn the win.Â
The weekend in Tennessee wraps up for the Redbirds in Nashville on Saturday, when they take on Vanderbilt with first serve set for 10 a.m.
RESULTS: Middle Tennessee (7), Illinois State (0)
Singles Competition
1. Tom Moonen (MTSU) def. Nam Pham (ILS) 6-1, 6-4
2. Stijn Slump (MTSU) def. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-2, 6-0
3. Francisco Rocha (MTSU) def. Diego Le Gal Perez (ILS) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
4. Chris Edge (MTSU) def. Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) 7-5, 6-4
5. Max Rauch (MTSU) def. Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) 6-0, 6-4
6. #102 Oskar Michalek (MTSU) def. Mike Agee (ILS) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles Competition
1. Pavel Motl/Stijn Slump (MTSU) def. Aleksa Lazarevic/Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-1
2. Tom Moonen/Chris Edge (MTSU) def. Diego Le Gal Perez/Zacharias Rasmusson (ILS) 6-1
3. Max Rauch/Francisco Rocha (MTSU) def. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) 6-3
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