Redbirds Drop Pair of Road Matches At Arkansas and Tulsa

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team opened its spring campaign on Friday, with a split doubleheader at Arkansas and later against Tulsa. The Redbirds were competitive, especially in singles, in each of the two matches but ultimately dropped both contests.

"Tough matches today, but honestly I was pleasantly surprised with the level we played at and competed to start the season," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "We have a lot of work to do with doubles trying to find the right pairings. However, in singles we are playing at a much higher level than I expected and so I'm excited to see where this takes us as we look forward to Sunday against No. 24 Oklahoma."

In the morning match at Arkansas, the Razorbacks jumped out to an early lead with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to secure the first point of the match. Arkansas would then go on to sweep the singles matches as well, but Emiliano Gonzales and Tomas Valencia both took their matches to a third-set tiebreaker before ultimately falling.

After a two-hour drive to Tulsa, the Redbirds took the court for their second match of the day this time against the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa jumped out to a lead with a win in doubles play as well before action moved to singles. Tulsa was in control for most of the matches, but senior Arvid Hjalte took his match at No. 2 to a tiebreaker to decide the second set before suffering a defeat at the hands of Thiago Pernas. 

The Redbirds return to action on Sunday when they travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to take on No. 24 ranked Oklahoma Sooners for a match at 4 p.m.

FINAL SCORE: Arkansas (7), Illinois State (0)

Doubles:
No. 1 Stefanos Savva/Connor Smillie (ARK) def. Emiliano Gonzales/Tin Ostro (ILS) 5-4 unfinished 
No. 2 Jake Sweeney/Jakob Mosvold (ARK) vs. Arvid Hjalte/Adrian Dibildox (ILS) 6-0
No. 3 Karlo Kajin/Alan Sau Franco (ARK) def. Caden Scarlett/Tomas Valencia (ILS) 6-2

Singles:
No. 1 Bozo Barun (ARK) def. Nam Pham (ILS) 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Stefanos Savva (ARK) def. Arvid Hjalte (ILS) 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Benedikt Emesz (ARK) def. Adrian Dibildox (ILS) 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Karlo Kajin (ARK) def. Emiliano Gonzales (ILS) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
No. 5 Connor Smillie (ARK) def. Tin Ostro (ILS) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Foster Rogers (ARK) def. Tomas Valencia (ILS) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4)

FINAL SCORE: Tulsa (7), Illinois State (0)

Doubles:
No. 1 Pierce Rollins/Thiago Pernas (TLS) def. Tin Ostro/Emiliano Gonzales (ILS) 6-1
No. 2 Callum Gale/Alex Okonkwo (TLS) def. Caden Scarlett/Tomas Valencia (ILS) 6-4
No. 3 Gus Tettamble/Victor Tosetto (TLS) def. Ming-Chieh Chiu/Tom Bevan (ILS) 6-2

Singles:
No. 1 Pierce Rollins (TLS) def. Nam Pham (ILS) 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Thiago Pernas (TLS) def. Arvid Hjalte (ILS) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 3 Callum Gale (TLS) def. Adrian Dibildox (ILS) 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Volodymyr Zakharov (TLS) def. Tin Ostro (ILS) 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 Victor Tosetto (TLS) def. Tomas Valencia (ILS) 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 Gus Tettamble (TLS) def. Tom Bevan (ILS) 6-3, 6-2

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