Men's Tennis Narrowly Edged by DePaul, 4-3

NORMAL, Ill. -- The Creighton men's tennis started out with a strong showing in doubles play before DePaul commanded singles action to defeat the Bluejays 4-3 during a neutral site match in Normal, Illinois on Saturday afternoon.

The Bluejays fell to 2-6 on the season after coming up short in the conference opener. Coming off the No. 1 seed in last year's BIG EAST Championship, DePaul moved to 10-3 on the year.

After falling at the No. 2 spot in doubles play, 6-4, Creighton found a spark in the duo of Armando Gandini and Brooks Kendall at the No. 3 spot. Gandini's and Kendall's 6-4 victory pushed doubles back to 1-1 a piece. Alex Koca and Stratton Brown found a rhythm and pushed past DePaul's Christopher Casati and Luuk Wassenaar at the No. 1 spot with a 7-5 victory, giving Creighton the doubles point and a 1-0 advantage going into singles play.

"We played some very good doubles and were able to win the big points there to take the lead into singles," head coach Tom Lilly said.

DePaul opened singles action with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 1 spot before taking a 2-1 advantage after winning at the No. 3 spot in straight-sets.

Brown ended the Blue Demon run, only needing two sets (6-3, 6-4) to get the Bluejays back to 2-2 in the overall match.

DePaul proved too much as the Blue Demons finished strong in the No. 6 and No. 4 spots, winning 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3, 7-6 respectively to clinch the dual.

Daniel Lopez-Rey finished the day on a positive note for the Bluejays, fighting for a 7-6, 1-6, 11-9 gritty victory at the No. 5 position.

"DePaul just had too much in singles today," Lilly said. "We definitely has some opportunities slip away and will need to capitalize on them tomorrow on the road against Illinois State."

Creighton is back in action on Sunday in Normal, Illinois against Illinois State with doubles play beginning at 10 a.m.

DePaul 4, Creighton 3
Feb 24, 2018 at Normal, Ill. (Bloomington Center)

Singles competition

1. Alex Galoustain (DEPAUL) def. Brooks Kendall (CU) 6-2, 6-4

2. Stratton Brown (CU) def. Boris Spanjaard (DEPAUL) 6-3, 6-4

3. Tamas Zador (DEPAUL) def. Alex Koca (CU) 6-3, 6-4

4. Christopher Casati (DEPAUL) def. Armando Gandini (CU) 6-3, 7-6

5. Daniel Lopez-Rey (CU) def. Luuk Wassenaar (DEPAUL) 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 1-0 (11-9)

6. Fran Tonejc (DEPAUL) def. Jose Oscar Diaz (CU) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Alex Koca/Stratton Brown (CU) def. Christopher Casati/Luuk Wassenaar (DEPAUL) 7-5

2. Alex Galoustain/Boris Spanjaard (DEPAUL) def. Mac Mease/Daniel Lopez-Rey (CU) 6-4

3. Armando Gandini/Brooks Kendall (CU) def. Tripp Tuff/Conor O'Meara (DEPAUL) 6-4

Match Notes

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,2,6,4,5)

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Players Mentioned

Stratton Brown

Jose Oscar Diaz

Armando Gandini

Brooks Kendall

Alex Koca

Daniel Lopez-Rey

Mac Mease