Rebound Effort By The Redbirds Nets 4-2 Win Over New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS – Coming off a hard-fought 4-3 defeat yesterday at Southern Mississippi, the Illinois State men's team bounced back with a 4-2 victory Tuesday afternoon over the New Orleans Privateers.

"I couldn't be happier about today's result," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "We collectively played the most consistent tennis of the year in both doubles and singles. Shout out to Nam on clinching the match for us. Definitely a great feeling after we felt like we should have won yesterday."

The Redbirds had a clean sweep in the doubles matches, with the duo of Diego Le Gal Perez and Diego Emilio Moura Herrera picking up the first victory at the No. 3 spot. A 6-4 win by Nam Pham and Ming-Chieh Chiu at No. 1 secured the doubles point for ISU, but Aleksa Lazarevic and Melker Isaksson left no doubt by posting a 6-4 win at the No. 2 spot to complete the sweep.

UNO bounced back to tie the match at 1-1 with a win at the No. 2 singles spot, but a straight set win by Lazarevic at the No. 5 spot put the Redbirds back up 2-1. A 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 3 from Pol Botifoll Rius over UNO's Espen Lagarde extended the lead for the Redbirds, but a win by UNO's Luke Joujan at the No. 6 spot brought the match closer at 3-2 in favor of the Redbirds. However, Nam Pham fought his way to a three-set victory over Austin Vos at the No. 1 spot to clinch the match for ISU.

Illinois State will return to action on Saturday, March 20, when it plays a doubleheader at Marquette. The first match of the day is set to begin at 11 a.m., with the second to follow at approximately 4 p.m. in Milwaukee at the Helfaer Tennis & Recreation Center. 

RESULTS: ILLINOIS STATE (4), NEW ORLEANS (2) 

Singles Competition
1. Nam Pham (ILS) def. Austin Vos (UNO) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
2. Max Heinzel (UNO) def. Diego Emilio Moura Herrera (ILS) 6-1, 6-2
3. Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) def. Espen Lagarde (UNO) 6-4, 6-3
4. Marcel Volz (UNO) vs. Mike Agee (ILS) 6-1, 6-7, 1-1, unfinished
5. Aleksa Lazarevic (ILS) def. Misha Fomenkov (UNO) 6-2, 6-4
6. Luke Joujan (UNO) def. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-4, 7-6

Doubles Competition
1. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) def. Austin Vos/Espen Lagarde (UNO) 6-4
2. Aleksa Lazarevic/Melker Isaksson (ILS) def. Misha Fomenkov/Johannes Klein (UNO) 6-4
3. Diego Le Gal Perez/Diego Emilio Moura Herrera (ILS) def. Max Heinzel/Mihajlo Drobnjakovic (UNO) 6-4

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