DES MOINES, Iowa – The first of two weekend matches for the Illinois State men's tennis team was also the Redbirds' conference finale, as the Redbirds traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on No. 70 ranked Drake. The hosts controlled action from the get go, as the Bulldogs picked up a 7-0 victory over the Redbirds at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center on Saturday.
Drake picked up a sweep in doubles action to take the first point of the match. All three matches were close, especially on court No. 1 as Evan Fragistas and Matija Matic defeated ISU's Adrian Dibildox and Arvid Hjalte by a score of 7-5. The Bulldogs also picked up 6-4 wins on courts 2 and 3 to gain the early advantage.
Illinois State got a gutsy performance at the No. 1 spot from Nam Pham, who fought his way to a third set but ultimately was defeated by Drake's Jeremy Schifris by a final of 6-0, 3-6, 6-1. Drake would win the other five matches in straight sets to pick up the victory over the Redbirds and secure a spot in the Summit League tournament next weekend. The Redbirds will have to wait on the outcome of the match between Denver and North Dakota to find out if they will qualify for the tournament.
The Redbirds will close out the regular season on Sunday, when they travel to Evanston, Illinois, to take on No. 23 ranked Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. in non-conference action.
FINAL SCORE: #70 Drake (7), Illinois State (0)
Doubles:
No. 1 Evan Fragistas/Matija Matic def. Dibildox/Hjalte (7-5)
No. 2 Johansson/Sonesson Lidholt def. Gonzalez/Ostro (6-4)
No. 3 Schifris/Jarvis def. Chiu/Pham (6-4)
Singles:
No. 1 Schifris defeated Pham (6-0, 3-6, 6-1)
No. 2 Matic defeated Hjalte (6-2, 6-1)
No. 3 Johansson defeated Isaksson (6-4, 6-3)
No. 4 Fragistas defeated Valencia (6-0, 6-1)
No. 5 Sonesson Lidholt defeated Dibildox (6-3, 6-3)
No. 6 Jarvis defeated Gonzalez (6-2, 6-4)
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