Chicago State junior
Pedro Alvarez earned a 7-6 (7), 6-3 singles victory over Tyler Bowers from the University of Illinois to help Chicago State win the top spot of the championship fight at the Redbird Invitational hosted by Illinois State.
In the doubles match, Alvarez teamed with
Hugo Hidalgo Vega and were down 3-0 and 6-3, but broke the Illini and held serve to come back to trail just 6-5. At 6-6, the duo broke the Illini serve again and held serve for the 8-6 doubles win, which left the Cougars needing one win in the remaining two singles matches to claim the championship flight title.
Hugo Hidalgo lost a tough, three-set match 6-0, 4-6, 10-7, leaving Alvarez on the court with the championship flight-deciding match and the junior delivered the straight-set win.
"I'm really proud of Pedro (Alvarez) and Hugo (Hidalgo Vega)," head coach
Jack Barton said. "The way they fought back in doubles after being down shows the fight they had. Even in singles, Hugo did everything he could to pull it out. He showed such great fight. Pedro does what he usually does and he is always clutch for us. The fight we showed this weekend was great."
Arhaan Pahwa and
Max Sandoval also picked up a doubles win Sunday and Sandoval earned a win in singles. Complete weekend results for Chicago State listed below.
The Cougars men's tennis team will be back in action October 15-16 at the PNW Fall Invitational hosted by Purdue Northwest at the Park Forest Tennis Club in Park Forest, Illinois.
2022 Redbird Invitational
Hosted by Illinois State
October 7-9
Chicago State Results
Friday's Results
Doubles
Arhaan Pahwa/
Max Sandoval, Chicago State defeated Ecarma/Wood, Bellarmine, 8-7
Pedro Alvarez/Hugo Hidalgo, Chicago State defeated Tang/Reynolds, Bellermine, 8-3
Hays/Burton, EIU defeated
Reed Gahagan, Chicago State/Dam, UIC, 8-2
Singles
Hugo Hidalgo, Chicago State defeated Reynolds, Bellarmine, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Pedro Alvarez, Chicago State defeated Tang, Bellarmine 6-4, 2-6, 10-6
Ecarma, Bellarmine defeated
Max Sandoval, Chicago State, 6-1, 2-6, 10-7
Wood, Bellarmine defeated
Arhaan Pahwa, Chicago State, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6
Dam, UIC defeated
Reed Gahagan, Chicago State, 6-2, 6-3
Saturday's Results
Doubles
DePrada/Martin, Lindenwood defeated
Arhaan Pahwa/
Max Sandoval, Chicago State, 8-4
Pedro Alvarez/Hugo Hidalgo, Chicago State defeated Strandburg/Schwebel, UIC, 8-4
Reed Gahagan, Chicago State/Dam, UIC defeated Jacinto/Lux, Lindenwood, 8-5
Singles
Pedro Alvarez, Chicago State defeated Strandburg, UIC, 2-6, 6-3, 10-4
Hugo Hidalgo, Chicago State defeated Schwebel, UIC, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8
Martin, Lindenwood defeated
Max Sandoval, Chicago State, 6-3, 6-3
DePrada, Lindenwood defeated
Arhaan Pahwa, Chicago State, 6-2, 6-3
Lux, Lindenwood defeated
Reed Gahagan, Chicago State, 6-2, 6-3
Sunday's Results
Doubles
Pedro Alvarez/Hugo Hidalgo, Chicago State defeated Lucas Horve/Tyler Bowers, Illinois, 8-6
Arhaan Pahwa/
Max Sandoval, Chicago State defeated Lamm/Valarezo, 8-7
Hays/Burton, EIU defeated
Reed Gahagan, Chicago State/Dam, UIC, 8-6
Singles
Bowers, Illinois defeated Hugo Hidalgo 6-0, 4-6, 10-7
Pedro Alvarez, Chicago State defeated Bowers, Illinois, 7-6 (7), 6-3
Chiu, Illinois State defeated
Reed Gahagan, Chicago State, 6-0, 6-2
Valarezo, Lindenwood defeated
Arhaan Pahwa, Chicago State, 6-3, 6-3
Max Sandoval, Chicago State defeated Lamm, Lindenwood 6-3, 4-6, 12-10
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title, also making an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach
Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year. During that same season, three different CSU teams earned victories over Big Ten opponents with men's soccer beating Northwestern, women's basketball upending Wisconsin and volleyball, which established a school record 17 wins and hosted a post-season volleyball tournament for the first time in program history, swept Indiana in Bloomington.
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