Redbirds End Season With 4-0 Loss At No. 23 Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team wrapped up the regular season on Sunday, as the Redbirds traveled north to take on in-state foe and No. 23 ranked Northwestern. The Wildcats proved to be as good as advertised, as they blanked the Redbirds 4-0 at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston.

"This has been an emotional weekend, which didn't quite go our way from a tennis standpoint, but I couldn't be prouder to coach this group of guys," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "Although we didn't finish the way we wanted, this group has a huge upside going into next year. It's been another memorable season and I'm already looking forward to next season."

Northwestern took the early advantage, with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to secure the first point of the match. The Wildcats kept that momentum going into singles play, with straight-set wins at No. 1, No. 6 and No. 2 to clinch the match.

Sunday's remaining matches in the Summit League would then decide the Redbirds' fate and tournament hopes. With Illinois State, North Dakota and Omaha all boasting a 2-3 League mark, the remaining two spots in the conference tournament came down to the three-team tiebreaker and the fourth tiebreaker criteria. That tiebreaker is the point differential (maximum four points for winning team) between each of the tied teams against the team occupying the highest position in the standings, continuing down through the standings until a team gains an advantage. 

With both North Dakota and Omaha falling to Denver, 5-2, and Illinois State losing to the Pioneers, 6-1, the Redbirds were eliminated from championship contention based off the point differential tiebreak. ISU finished the season 10-14 overall during the spring dual meet season.

FINAL SCORE: #23 Northwestern (4), Illinois State (0)

Doubles:
No. 1 #83 Ivan Yatsuk/Gleb Blekher (NU) vs. Arvid Hjalte/Adrian Dibildox (ILS) 3-4, unfinished
No. 2 Steven Forman/Felix Nordby (NU) def. Tin Ostro/Emiliano Gonzales (ILS) 6-1
No. 3 Trice Pickens/Natan Spear (NU) def. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) 6-2

Singles:
No. 1 #83 Ivan Yatsuk (NU) def. Nam Pham (ILS) 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Trice Pickens (NU) def. Arvid Hjalte (ILS) 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 Presley Thieneman (NU) vs. Melker Isaksson (ILS) 6-4, 5-1, unfinished
No. 4 Gleb Blekher (NU) vs. Tomas Valencia (ILS) 7-6 (7-2), 2-0, unfinished
No. 5 Felix Nordby (NU) vs. Adrian Dibildox (ILS) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
No. 6 Natan Spear (NU) def. Emiliano Gonzales (ILS) 6-2, 6-3

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