FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Illinois State men's tennis team got back into the win column on Saturday, as the Redbirds (4-3) picked up the doubles win and didn't look back in a 6-1 win against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
"We had a good day today. We still need a lot of work in doubles, but we managed to get that point which gave us some momentum going into singles," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "The boys stepped up and played some solid singles matches and I think it was a great test against a very good Fort Smith team. Now we look forward to tomorrow and playing a powerhouse like Arkansas."
ISU jumped out to the early lead by winning the doubles point. After Dominick Cuchran and Dominic Anderson rolled to a 6-0 win at the No. 2 spot, UAFS tied things up a 6-2 win at the No.1 spot. That left the decision to the action at the No. 3 spot, where Emiliano Gonzales and Tin Ostro picked up a tough 7-5 win to secure the point for the Redbirds.
Gonzales kept that momentum going into singles play and rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 win over UAFS' Juan Patino at No. 5 to move the score to 2-0 in favor of ISU. Arvid Hjalte followed with a quick 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 2 to make it 3-0 and Nam Pham then clinched the win at No. 1 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Anis Ramchane. Adrian Dibildox and Ming-Chieh Chiu each had to go to three sets, but came out victorious to give the Redbirds the 6-1 victory.
The Redbirds continue the weekend by traveling to Fayetteville for a doubleheader against the Arkansas Razorbacks, with the first match set for 11 a.m. CT and the second match to follow shortly after.
FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (6), Arkansas-Fort Smith (1)
Doubles:
No. 1 Anis Ramchane/Killian Darneaux (UAFS) def. Arvid Hjalte/Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-2
No. 2 Dominick Cuchran/Dominic Anderson (ILS) def. Juan Rosello/Eduardo Bribiesca (UAFS) 6-0
No. 3 Emiliano Gonzales/Tin Ostro (ILS) def. Juan Patino/Nicolas Retamales (UAFS) 7-5
Singles:
No. 1 Nam Pham (ILS) def. Anis Ramchane (UAFS) 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 Arvid Hjalte (ILS) def. Juan Rosello (UAFS) 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 Eduardo Bribiesca (UAFS) def. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-2, 7-6
No. 4 Adrian Dibildox (ILS) def. Killian Darneaux (UAFS) 6-2, 5-7, 10-3
No. 5 Emiliano Gonzales (ILS) def. Juan Patino (UAFS) 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) def. Nicolas Retamales (UAFS) 2-6, 6-3, 10-8
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
Â
