BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – It was a long day of tennis for the Illinois State men on Friday, as the Redbirds played a pair of matches at home for the first time this spring. After dropping a tough 5-2 decision to DePaul in the first match of the day, ISU bounced back with a 6-1 win over Illinois-Springfield at the Bloomington Tennis & Turf complex.
"It was a long day for the boys today," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "We had a vintage dogfight of a match with DePaul as we do every year. The match could have gone any way really. The evening match was a good result, even though we didn't play our best from the start. As soon as the guys got into the matches and got a little more comfortable, then we managed to dictate each court and I was pleased with the way we finished. Now we rest up and get back at it tomorrow night against Eastern Illinois."
DePaul took an early lead in the first match of the day by winning the doubles point thanks to wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. A win 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles by Nam Pham over DePaul's Christopher Casati and a victory by Pol Botifoll Rius over Fran Tonejc at the No. 4 spot got the Redbirds back in the match, however the Blue Demons came away with wins in the other four singles matches to come away with the 5-2 victory.
In the second match doubleheader, UIS won at No. 1 doubles but the Redbirds came back to win the final two doubles matches to come away with the point to take an early lead. Pham started things off well again for the Redbirds, winning in straight sets at No. 1 for his second singles win of the day. Diego Le Gal Perez also took care of business at the No. 2 spot for ISU's third point of the day, but UIS took a win at the No. 3 spot to pick up its first point of the match. However, that would be the last one for the Stars, as Botifoll Rius, Ming-Chieh Chiu and Shu-Lun Chang won their matches to secure the 6-1 victory.
The Redbirds are back in action tomorrow for a 6 p.m. match against Eastern Illinois at Bloomington Tennis & Turf. In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to attend home ISU Athletics events.
MATCH 1: DePaul (5), IIllinois State (2)
Singles Competition
1. Nam Pham (ILS) def. Christopher Casati (DPU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Vito Tonejc (DPU) def. Diego Le Gal Perez (ILS) 6-4, 6-2
3. Boris Spanjaard (DPU) def. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-2, 6-0
4. Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) def. Fran Tonejc (DPU) 6-3, 7-6
5. Tripp Tuff (DPU) def. Diego Emilio Moura Herrera (ILS) 5-7, 6-4, 10-6
6. Luuk Wassenaar (DPU) def. Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. Diego Le Gal Perez/Melker Isaksson (ILS) vs. Christopher Casati/Boris Spanjaard (DPU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Fran Tonejc/Vito Tonejc (DPU) def. Diego Emilio Moura Herrera/Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) 6-0
3. Lars Peder Minsaas/Luuk Wassenaar (DPU) def. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) 6-4
MATCH 2: Illinois State (6), Illinois-Springfield (1)
Singles Competition
1. Nam Pham (ILS) def. Menno Servaes (UIS) 6-4, 6-1
2. Diego Le Gal Perez (ILS) def. Tomas Martinez (UIS) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
3. Nick Revin (UIS) def. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 7-5, 7-5
4. Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) def. Rafa Rojas (UIS) 6-3, 6-2
5. Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) def. Alex Chan (UIS) 7-5, 5-7, 10-7
6. Shu-Lun Chang (ILS) def. Matthew Lapsley (UIS) 6-2, 2-6, 10-5
Doubles Competition
1. Tomas Martinez/Menno Servaes (UIS) def. Diego Le Gal Perez/Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-1
2. Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson/Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) def. Nick Revin/Matthew Lapsley (UIS) 6-4
3. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) def. Alex Chan/Rafa Rojas (UIS) def. 6-2
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