Friday, March 24
Omaha, Neb.
12:30 P.M.
Creighton University
3
vs
4
Illinois State
Photo by: Catherine Grosdidier
#64 Men’s Tennis Narrowly Falls to Illinois State, Snapping Nine Match Winning Streak
3/24/2023 7:14:00 PM | Men's Tennis
OMAHA, Neb. – Playing for the first time in two weeks, the No. 64 ranked Creighton men's tennis team had its nine-match winning streak snapped with a 4-3 loss to Illinois State at the Hanscom Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
The loss, the first since Jan. 27 at North Dakota, drops the Bluejays to 9-4 on the year, while Illinois State improves to 7-11 overall.
Creighton got off to a promising start, earning the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. Illinois State took the early advantage with a 6-4 triumph at the No. 2 slot before Matthew Lanahan and Casey Ross captured a 6=4 victory at the top doubles position. With the point being decided at the No. 3 court, graduate Oscar Alvarez and freshman Zachary Kuo battled from behind to claim a 7-5 victory and earn the Bluejays the first point of the afternoon.
In singles play, the Bluejays jumped out of the gate quickly as Ross extend the lead too 2-0 after a 6-1, 6-0 straight sets win on the No. 2 singles court.
The Redbirds responded with four straight victories at the No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions to clinch the overall dual victory.
Sophomore Alejandro Gandini captured Creighton's only other singles win at the No. 3 slot. Gandini fell 6-4 in set one before answering with a pair of 6-2 wins in sets two and three to earn his eighth straight singles victory.
"We knew Illinois State had a talented team and has played a tough schedule with many close losses," said head coach Tom Lilly. "We won nine in a row and the majority were a lot like this match, but we weren't able to turn the tide in a few singles matches today. We have to work on our composure in some spots and play just a little better starting next week in practice. The ranking was something that we knew was going to fire teams up to play us and that was definitely the case today. We will keep getting better."
The Bluejays return to the courts on Friday, March 31 at 7 p.m. when they take on Marquette in a BIG EAST battle at the Hanscom Tennis Center.
Illinois State 4, #64 Creighton 3
Mar 24, 2023 at Omaha, Neb (Hanscom Tennis Center)
The loss, the first since Jan. 27 at North Dakota, drops the Bluejays to 9-4 on the year, while Illinois State improves to 7-11 overall.
Creighton got off to a promising start, earning the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. Illinois State took the early advantage with a 6-4 triumph at the No. 2 slot before Matthew Lanahan and Casey Ross captured a 6=4 victory at the top doubles position. With the point being decided at the No. 3 court, graduate Oscar Alvarez and freshman Zachary Kuo battled from behind to claim a 7-5 victory and earn the Bluejays the first point of the afternoon.
In singles play, the Bluejays jumped out of the gate quickly as Ross extend the lead too 2-0 after a 6-1, 6-0 straight sets win on the No. 2 singles court.
The Redbirds responded with four straight victories at the No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions to clinch the overall dual victory.
Sophomore Alejandro Gandini captured Creighton's only other singles win at the No. 3 slot. Gandini fell 6-4 in set one before answering with a pair of 6-2 wins in sets two and three to earn his eighth straight singles victory.
"We knew Illinois State had a talented team and has played a tough schedule with many close losses," said head coach Tom Lilly. "We won nine in a row and the majority were a lot like this match, but we weren't able to turn the tide in a few singles matches today. We have to work on our composure in some spots and play just a little better starting next week in practice. The ranking was something that we knew was going to fire teams up to play us and that was definitely the case today. We will keep getting better."
The Bluejays return to the courts on Friday, March 31 at 7 p.m. when they take on Marquette in a BIG EAST battle at the Hanscom Tennis Center.
Illinois State 4, #64 Creighton 3
Mar 24, 2023 at Omaha, Neb (Hanscom Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Nam Pham (ISU) def. Matthew Lanahan (CU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 |
| 2. Casey Ross (CU) def. Arvid Hjaltre (ISU) 6-1, 6-0 |
| 3. Alejandro Gandini (CU) def. Malker Isaksson (ISU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 4. Tomas Valencia (ISU) def. Oscar Alvarez (CU) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 5. Adrian Dibildox (ISU) def. Shin Inoue (CU) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 6. Emiliano Gonzales (ISU) def. Kirtan Patel (CU) 6-2, 6-4 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Matthew Lanahan/Casey Ross (CU) def. Arvid Hjaltre/Adrian Dibildox (ISU) 6-4 |
| 2. Emiliano Gonzales/Tin Ostro (ISU) def. Alejandro Gandini/Kirtan Patel (CU) 6-4 |
| 3. Oscar Alvarez/Zachary Kuo (CU) def. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ISU) 7-5 |
| Match Notes |
| Illinois State 7-11 |
| #64 Creighton 9-4 |
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
123
Nam Pham / 0 [ISU]
466
630
#2 Singles Match
12
Arvid Hjaltre / 0 [ISU]
10
66
#3 Singles Match
123
Malker Isaksson / 0 [ISU]
622
466
#4 Singles Match
12
Tomas Valencia / 0 [ISU]
76
54
#5 Singles Match
12
Adrian Didildox / 0 [ISU]
66
34
#6 Singles Match
12
Emiliano Gonzales / 0 [ISU]
66
24
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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