NORMAL, Ill. – For the second time in just three days, Illinois State picked up a 7-0 sweep of an in-state foe as the Redbirds took care of business at home over the Panthers on Friday afternoon at the Evergreen Racquet Club.
"Great team win all around today," ISU head coach Mark Klyser said. "Again, we played some tough doubles and that always gives us confidence going into the singles. We've been playing good tennis as of late in singles, so the guys didn't disappoint, came out firing and played a very disciplined and focused match on each court."
ISU got off to a quick start in doubles, as the No. 1 team of Arvid Hjalte and Zane Kohrs defeated Leighton Brandon and Pau Riera of EIU by a score of 6-1 to take an early lead. The No. 3 team of Nam Pham and Ming-Chieh Chiu then secured the doubles point for the Redbirds with their 6-2 win. For good measure, the duo of Melker Isaksson and Diego Le Gal Perez took down EIU's No. 2 team of Christos Kyrillou and Thomas Wallace by a final of 7-6 (7-5) to finish the doubles sweep.
Hjalte took care of business at No. 6 singles 6-0, 6-2 to make the advantage 2-0 for ISU and then Le Gal Perez added a win at No. 4 by a score of 6-3, 6-2 to make it 3-0 in favor of ISU. A gusty win at No. 1 by Pham then secured the fourth point of the day and the victory for the Redbirds. Straight-set wins by Diego Emilio Moura Herrera, Pol Botifoll Rius and Isaksson capped off the successful singles sweep for ISU.
The Redbirds return to action next Saturday, Feb. 19, when they travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to take on Toledo before wrapping up the weekend on Sunday with a match against host Marquette.
FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (7), Eastern Illinois (0)
Singles
1. Nam Pham (ISU) def. Leighton Brandon (EIU) 6-2, 7-5
2. Pol Botifoll Rius (ISU) def. Christos Kyrillou (EIU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Melker Isaksson (ISU) def. Charles Courteau (EIU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) def. Pau Riera (EIU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Diego Emilio Moura Herrera (ISU) def. Tyler Carlin (EIU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Arvid Hjalte (ISU) def. Thomas Wallace (EIU) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
1. Arvid Hjalte/Zane Kohrs (ISU) def. Leighton Brandon/Pau Riera (EIU) 6-1
2. Melker Isaksson/Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) def. Christos Kyrillou/Thomas Wallace (EIU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ISU) def. Tyler Carlin/Kyle Burton (EIU) 6-2
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