Box Score Chicago — Tied at 3-3, the Chicago State men's tennis team lost the last singles match of the afternoon to drop a 4-3 decision to the UIC Flames Sunday in Chicago. The Cougars earned three victories in singles but the final match in both singles and doubles decided the outcome.
The Flames won the team point in doubles, winning two of three matches.
Jakub Zamorski and
Pedja Kolaric lost 6-2 at No. 1 while
Jakov Suler and
Max Sandoval won 6-2 at No. 3, leaving the deciding match on the court to claim the team point where
Javier Sanchez and
Pedro Alverez dropped a tightly-contested 7-5 decision at No. 2.
"This one hurt today," head coach
Jack Barton said. "We had every chance to win, but didn't step up when needed. This was a close, close match and we should benefit from the experience going forward."
In singles, the Cougars claimed three of five wins, leaving
Pedja Kolaric on the court in the deciding match of the competition. Playing on the fourth line, Kolaric won the first set 6-3 but then dropped the next two, 6-4, 6-3. The match was trending in CSU's favor as
Pedro Alvarez won the first singles match of the afternoon 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 and
Jakov Suler followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 2. The Flames countered with wins at No. 1 (
Javier Sanchez lost 6-2, 6-4) and No. 4 (
Jakub Zamorski lost 6-4, 6-4) before CSU's
Max Sandoval won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to pull the match to 3-3.
"Hopefully we learned from today's experience and we can turn it around this weekend at our conference matches," Barton said.
The next action for the Cougars will be March 26-27 in Phoenix, opening up Western Athletic Conference play with matches against Grand Canyon and Seattle.
For the latest information on Chicago State Cougars athletics, follow the Cougars on social media at @ChiStateCougars on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and keep up to date with all the athletics information and news at GoCSUCougars.com.
