NORMAL, Ill. – It was a near perfect day for the Redbirds as the sixth annual Redbird Invitational ended Sunday. The 'Birds would see Arvid Hjalte and Adrian Dibildox wrap up the weekend with a championship win in the white doubles flight, as well as the duo going a perfect 6-0 in singles respectively.
Across the three-day event, the Redbirds would go 6-6Â in all doubles play and an impressive 23-7 in singles play.Â
"What a great way to end this weekend as we won the championship in two of the three brackets. Big congrats to the teams of Arvid and Adrian… and Dom and Emiliano for taking home the titles," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said.
To start their final day on the courts, Arvid Hjalte and Adrian Dibildox for ISU were going for the white doubles flight championship against Bellarmine's Batchelor and Nice, as an 8-5 result would fall in favor of the hometown 'Birds.
The white doubles flight also saw Melker Isaksson and Dominick Cuchran battle Western Michigan's Honnappa and Schluter for third place, as the WMU pair would come away with an 8-1 win.
The black doubles flight for ISU saw Dominic Anderson and Emiliano Gonzales square off with Bellarmine's Ramesh and B. Reynolds, as the 'Birds took the 8-6 win to close out their weekend with the flight championship win. Finally, in the grey doubles flight, Caden Scarlett and Ming-Chieh Chiu faced UIC's Iermolov and Kruzel, taking home a 8-7 win.
For the final time this weekend, Nam Pham and Tomas Valenica were in action as they went head-to-head with UIC's Strandberg and Schwebel, as the Flames came out as 8-3 victors.
The wins kept coming in the white singles flight for ISU as Hjalte, Dibildox, Isaksson, and Scarlett would pick up victories while Cuchran fell in a hard-fought three setter.
After dropping the doubles decision, Pham rebounded to end his weekend on a high note thanks to a 3-6, 7-6, 10-8 win in the red singles flight over UIC'S Strandberg. Unfortunately, Valencia would not fare as well as he would retire in the second set against UIC's Schwebel in the same flight.
In the black singles flight for the final day, Anderson would pick up another win as Gonzales saw a slight setback defeat. Finally, in the grey singles flight, it would be Chiu winning in straight sets over CSU's Gahagan.
"Overall, I thought we played and fought hard all weekend long all the while going 6-6 in doubles over the three days and 23-7 in singles," Klysner said. "I couldn't be happier with the way the boys played and now we wait and see who we get into the ITA Regionals and start preparing for that!"Â
The 'Birds now turn their attention to the ITA Midwest Regionals from October 20-24, hosted by the University of Illinois.
Red Doubles:
Strandberg/Schwebel (UIC) def. Pham/Valencia (ILS) 8-3
White Doubles:
Hjalte/Dibildox (ILS) def. Batchelor/Nice (BELL) 8-5
Honnappa/Schluter (WMU) def. Isaksson/Cuchran (ILS) 8-1
Black Doubles:
Anderson/Gonzales (ILS) def. Ramesh/B. Reynolds (BELL) 8-6
Grey Doubles:
Scarlett/Chiu (ILS) def. Iermolov/Kruzel (UIC) 8-7
Red Singles:
Pham (ILS) def. Strandberg (UIC) 3-6, 7-6, 10-8
Schwebel (UIC) def. Valencia (ILS) 7-6, 4-3 RETIRED
White Singles:
Hjalte (ILS) def. Batchelor (BELL) 6-4, 7-5
Dibildox (ILS) def. Nice (BELL) 7-6, 6-0
Isaksson (ILS) def. Honnappa (WMU) 6-4, 6-1
Schluter (WMU) def. Cuchran (ILS) 2-6, 6-2, 10-7
Scarlett (ILS) def. Rodriguez (LIND) 7-6, 2-6, 12-10
Black Singles:
Ramesh (BELL) def. Gonzales (ILS) 6-0, 6-2
Anderson (ILS) def. B. Reynolds (BELL) 7-5, 3-6, 10-3
Grey Singles:
Chiu (ILS) def. Gahagan (CSU) 6-0, 6-2
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