NORMAL, Ill. – When the final day of the sixth annual Redbird Invitational begins Sunday, there will be plenty of opportunities for ISU to compete for bracket championships after another successful day of action.
The Redbirds will see two pairings going for bracket championships, as the 'Birds would go 2-2 in doubles, much like Friday. Then, in singles, the 'Birds would go 7-3 to make their two-day singles total 16-4.
"Today was another great day overall for us as we picked up a ton of wins and have set ourselves to play in two of the three bracket finals. So, really just looking to finish the weekend off on a good note and take home some more wins," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said.Â
The 'Birds pairing of Arvid Hjalte and Adrian Dibildox picked up their second win in as many days, this time by a 8-3 final over Honnappa and Schulter of Western Michigan. It will now be Hjalte and Dibildox going for the White bracket championship Sunday when they go head-to-head with Bellarmine's Batchelor and Nice.
Also in the white doubles flight would be the pairing of Melker Isaksson and Dominick Cuchran against Bellarmine's Batchelor/Nice. It would be Bellarmine picking up the win to advance to Sunday's flight championship, while the 'Birds will be in the flight's third-place match against Western Michigan.
Newcomers Dominic Anderson and Emiliano Gonzales battled hard to a 8-7 victory in the black doubles flight over their opponents, Bell-Ecarma and Wood from Bellarmine Saturday. Now, the 'Birds go for the black flight doubles championship against Ramesh and B. Reynolds of Bellarmine Sunday. Â
Meanwhile, the 'Birds pairing of Nam Pham and Tomas Valenica faced off with the pairing of Horve and Bowers from in-state Illinois, as the Illini picked up the 8-6 win. Pham and Valenica will be in the third-place match against UIC when action resumes Sunday.
The white singles flight would see straight set wins for both Hjalte and Dibildox, as they would both pick up a straight set win over opponents from Western Michigan. Cuchran picked up another win, this time by rallying over Bellarmine's Nice to a final of 5-7, 6-4, 10-4. Unfortunately, Isaksson would falter in his match as he fell to Bellarmine's Batchelor in straight sets.
In the black singles flight, Gonzales battled to a three-set (7-6, 4-6, 10-3) victory over Bellarmine's Wood. The winning ways would continue for ISU as Anderson picked up a straight set victory over Bellarmine's Ecarma.
The grey singles flight had ISU's Caden Scarlett facing off with Eastern Illinois' Hays, as Scarlett claimed a straight set win. Then, Ming-Chieh Chiu faced UIC's Dam and would leave the court with a straight set victory under his belt.
Pham and Valencia would not be able to bounce back, as they did Friday, as Pham fell to Illinois' Horve by scores of 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 while Valencia saw a straight set defeat against Illinois's Bowers.
Action resumes on Saturday at 10Â a.m. with doubles matches, followed by singles immediately after.
Red Doubles:
Horve/Bowers (Illinois) def. Pham/Valencia (ILS) 8-6
White Doubles:
Hjalte/Dibildox (ILS) def. Honnappa/Schluter (WMU) 8-3
Batchelor/Nice (BELL) def. Isaksson/Cuchran 8-6
Black Doubles:
Anderson/Gonzales (ILS) def. Ecarma/Wood (BELL) 8-7
Red Singles:
Horve (Illinois) def. Pham (ILS) 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
Bowers (Illinois) def. Valencia (ILS) 6-3, 6-2
White Singles:
Hjalte (ILS) def. Honnappa (WMU) 6-4, 6-4
Dibildox (ILS) def. Schluter (WMU) 6-1, 6-4
Batchelor (BELL) def. Isaksson (ILS) 7-5, 6-3
Cuchran (ILS) def. Nice (BELL) 5-7, 6-4, 10-4
Black Singles:
Gonzales (ILS) def. Wood (BELL) 7-6, 4-6, 10-3
Anderson (ILS) def. Ecarma (BELL) 6-1, 6-2
Grey Singles:
Scarlett (ILS) def. Hays (EIU) 6-4, 6-4
Chiu (ILS) def. Dam (UIC) 6-4, 6-4
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