Men's Tennis 2/13/2016 12:07:00 AM Corey Miggins, Sports Information Director

Cougars Defeat Cardinal Stritch, 6-1, to Claim First Victory of 2016

Sophomore Christian Gonzalez helped the Cougars gain their first win of 2016 Friday against Cardinal Stritch

HOMEWOOD, Ill. – The Chicago State men's tennis team captured its first dual-match victory of the 2016 season here Friday evening after defeating Cardinal Stritch by a score of 6-1 at the H-F Racquet and Fitness Club.

The win snapped a seven-match losing streak for the Cougars, who moved their record to 1-7 on the year.

Stritch opened the match with a default win at No. 3 doubles before CSU claimed the remaining two matches to earn the doubles point and an early 1-0 advantage.

The duo of freshman Felix Savard (Laval, QC Canada/Saint-Gabriel) and sophomore Gonzalo Martinez (Madrid, Spain/Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo) captured a 6-3 win over Abel Da Costa and Ray Weich at No. 2 doubles for the Green and White. Sophomore Christian Gonzalez (Mungia, Spain/Larramendi Ikastola) then teamed with freshman Gabriel Niculescu (Bucharest, Romania) to claim a close 6-4 victory over Caio Barros and Gian Rico for the clincher at No. 1 doubles.

The Cougars then took wins in five of the six singles matches to wrap up the match with two of the matches going to three sets.

Savard started CSU's rally with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles over Florian Frese followed by Martinez defeating Nader Murad in the No. 5 singles matchup by identical 6-2 scores. Gonzalez then captured a tough 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 win at No. 4 over Weich, at No. 4 singles for CSU.

Sophomore Rohan Wattley (Slough, United Kingdom/Burnham) bounced back from a set down to Barros at No. 3 singles to win the final two sets by scores of 6-4 and 6-2. Niculescu closed out the match with a tough three-set victory over Will East with identical 6-4 scores after losing the first set, 6-3.

CSU heads to Michigan this weekend for a pair of road contests beginning Sunday afternoon at Michigan State with a start time of 4 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Gonzalez: Sophomore

Rohan Wattley: Sophomore

Felix Savard: 6' 0"; Freshman

Gabriel Niculescu: Freshman

Gonzalo Martinez: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Christian Gonzalez
: Sophomore

Rohan Wattley
: Sophomore

Felix Savard
: 6' 0"; Freshman

Gabriel Niculescu
: Freshman

Gonzalo Martinez
: Sophomore

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned