Redbirds Fall On The Road To Menlo College, 4-3

ATHERTON, Calif. – The Illinois State men's tennis continued its Spring Break trip in California on Friday against Menlo College, as the Redbirds took an early lead, but the hosts rallied for a 4-3 win at the Cartan Tennis Courts.

The Redbirds got off to a great start, sweeping the doubles matches to earn the first point of the match. The No. 2 team of Tin Ostro and Caden Scarlett defeated Asger Emil Ildor and Ian Ramiro Perez by a final of 6-3 for the first win, and then the No. 1 tandem of Tomas Valencia and Adrian Dibildox picked up a 6-2 win over Robin McAlpine and David Espinosa Navarro to clinch the doubles point. For good measure, the No. 3 duo of Christian Capacci and Manuel Pavia took down Erkin Tootoonchi Moghaddam and Galien Del Vecchio by a 6-4 score to secure the sweep.

As the action moved to singles, Menlo took a 2-1 lead with wins at the No. 2 and No. 5 spots. ISU then tied the match at 2-2 when Tin Ostro beat Henry Riccioni-Brown 6-3, 6-4. However, Menlo would then earn wins at the No. 6 and No. 4 spots to clinch the match, before Tomas Valencia defeated Robin McAlpine at No. 1 in three sets 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 to bring the match final at 4-3.

The Redbirds wrap up their Spring Break trip in California on Saturday against UC Davis, with first serve set for 4 p.m. CT.

FINAL SCORE: Menlo College (4), Illinois State (3)

Doubles:
No. 1 Tomas Valencia/Adrian Dibildox (ISU) def. Robin McAlpine/David Espinosa Navarro (MC) 6-2
No. 2 Tin Ostro/Caden Scarlett (ISU) def. Asger Emil Ildor/Ian Ramiro Perez (MC) 6-3
No. 3 Christian Capacci/Manuel Pavia (ISU) def. Erkin Tootoonchi Moghaddam/Galien Del Vecchio (MC) 6-4

Singles:
No. 1 Tomas Valencia (ISU) def. Robin McAlpine (MC) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
No. 2 Asger Emil Ildor (MC) def. Christian Capacci (ISU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Tin Ostro (ISU) def. Henry Riccioni-Brown (MC) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 David Espinosa Navarro (MC) def. Jett Leong (ISU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
No. 5 Tijl Forger (MC) def. Caden Scarlett (ISU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Robinson Pelluault (MC) def. Manuel Pavia (ISU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)

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