BOISE – The Illinois State men's tennis team opened play Friday morning at the Boise State Spring Fling with a win, as the Redbirds rolled to a 4-0 victory over Eastern Washington in Bracket A round-robin play at the Eagle Tennis Club.
"I'm really pleased with the win today," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "We haven't played a match for a little while and I was wondering how we would play this morning. I don't think we played great doubles today, but it was huge getting that point early to get us going and the guys stepped up in singles and looked sharp. Now, we turn our focus to tomorrow morning against nationally ranked Boise State."
The Redbirds took an early advantage in the match, thanks to wins at the No. 3 and No. 2 doubles spots. The No. 3 tandem of Caden Scarlett and Tomas Valencia defeated Arshjot Bhatti and Brady of Eastern Washington by a final of 6-3 to take the first doubles match of the day. ISU then clinched the first point of the match thanks to victory at the No. 2 spot by Arvid Hjalte and Tom Bevan over EWU's Drew Dilon Tyler Dalos by a final of 7-5.
As the action moved to singles play, senior Nam Pham got the Redbirds off on a good foot with a quick 6-0, 6-1 win at the No. 1 spot over EWU's Cade Kammerer to make it 2-0 in favor of the Redbirds. A 6-0, 6-0 sweep at No. 6 by Tin Ostro against Erik Sarlvik would then make it 3-0, and the Redbirds would clinch the match when Hjalte defeated Tyler Waddock by a score of 6-4, 7-5 at the No. 2 spot.
Illinois State returns to the courts on Saturday morning, when they face off against host and No. 63 ranked Boise State at 10 a.m. CT. Following that match, the Redbirds will face off against a team from Bracket B in the finala round later in the afternoon.
FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (4), Eastern Washington State (0)
Doubles:Â
No. 1 Caden Kammerer/Tyler Waddock (EWU) vs. Tin Ostro/Emiliano Gonzalez (ISU) 6-5 unfinished
No. 2 Arvid Hjalte/Tom Bevan (ISU) def. Drew Dilon/Tyler Dalos (EWU) 7-5
No. 3 Caden Scarlett/Tomas Valencia (ISU) def. Arshjot Bhatti/Brady Thomas (EWU) 6-3
Singles:
No. 1 Nam Pham (ISU) def. Caden Kammerer (EWU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 Arvid Hjalte (ISU) def. Tyler Waddock (EWU) 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 Drew Dillon (EWU) vs. Adrian Dibildox (ISU) 6-7(3), 2-1 unfinished
No. 4 Tyler Dalos (EWU) vs. Tomas Valencia (ISU) 6-2, 2-6, 0-0 unfinished
No. 5 Arshjot Bhatti (EWU) vs. Emiliano Gonzalez (ISU) 4-6, 4-5 unfinished
No. 6 Tin Ostro (ISU) def. Erik Sarlvik (EWU) 6-0, 6-0
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