BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – It was a productive Sunday at the Evergreen Racquet Club for the Illinois State men's tennis team, as the Redbirds (6-6) swept a split doubleheader against Marquette and St. Ambrose to even their record at .500 for the spring season.
"I couldn't be happier with how we played today," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "Our doubles was much improved overall and that certainly gave us momentum leading into singles. The guys stepped up and played great on all six courts and we beat a really good Marquette squad. The second match of the day was an opportunity for some of our younger guys to get some matches in and they took care of business as I had hoped."
In the opening match of the day against Marquette, the doubles point was hotly contested as the Golden Eagles took the early advantage with a win at the No. 1 spot. The No. 3 team of Dominic Anderson and Dominick Cuchran for Illinois State took care of business winning 6-3 to leave the deciding doubles point to court No. 2, where Emiliano Gonzales and Tin Ostro came up big for the Redbirds with a 6-3 to secure the crucial first point of the match.
As the action moved to singles, ISU No. 1 Nam Pham made the score 2-0 in favor of the Redbirds with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win over Stefan Dragovic. Arvid Hjalte then made it 3-0 for ISU after his 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) over Marquette's Tin Krstulovic at the No. 2 spot. However, a win at No. 3 by the Golden Eagles would get them on the board and make it 3-1.
The final three matches all went to third sets, but it was Gonzales who clinched the match with his win at No. 6 by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 over Pablo Dale. Marquette would get a win at the No. 5 spot to tighten things a bit, but a win by Tomas Valencia at No. 4 for the Redbirds brought the score to its final at 5-2.
In the evening match against St. Ambrose, the Redbirds swept the doubles matches giving up just two games in the three matches to secure the doubles point once again. In singles play, ISU swept the Fighting Bees with no player giving up more than two games in any match in straight-set victories for each of them.
The Redbirds begin Summit League play on Saturday, March 4, when they head to Grand Forks, North Dakota, to take on the North Dakota Hawks at 4 p.m.
MATCH 1 FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (5), Marquette (2)
Doubles:Â
No. 1 Stefan Dragovic/Rami Scheetz (MAR) def. Arvid Hjalte/Nam Pham (ILS) 6-3
No. 2 Emiliano Gonzales/Tin Ostro (ILS) def. Tin Krstulovic/Blake Roegner (MAR) 6-3
No. 3 Dominic Anderson/Dominick Cuchran (ILS) def. Ian Brady/Thomas Nelson (MAR) 6-3
Singles:
No. 1 Nam Pham (ILS) def. Stefan Dragovic (MAR) 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 Arvid Hjalte (ILS) def. Tin Krstulovic (MAR) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 3 Rami Scheetz (MAR) def. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 Tomas Valencia (ILS) def. Blake Roegner (MAR) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 Thomas Nelson (MAR) def. Adrian Dibildox (ILS) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 Emiliano Gonzales (ILS) def. Pablo Dale (MAR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
MATCH 2 FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (7), St. Ambrose (0)
Doubles:Â
No. 1 Caden Scarlett/Tomas Valencia (ILS) def. Brian Lelm/Paulo Vitor (STA) 6-0
No. 2 Ming-Chieh Chiu/Tin Ostro (ILS) def. Gabriel Guimaray/Gianfranco Garcia (STA) 6-2
No. 3 Dominic Anderson/Dominick Cuchran (ILS) def. Caleb Hoffman/Bennet Piotrowski (STA) 6-0
Singles:
No. 1 Nam Pham (ILS) def. Paulo Vitor (STA) 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 Tin Ostro (ILS) def. Brian Lelm (STA) 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 Dominick Cuchran (ILS) def. Gabriel Guimaray (STA) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Dominic Anderson (ILS) def. Gianfranco Garcia (STA) 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 Caden Scarlett (ILS) def. Greyson Piotrowski (STA) 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) def. Connor Leibforth (STA) 6-0, 6-1
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