Pedro Alvarez Earns Victory in No. 1 Singles as Cougars Drop Season Opener to Creighton

Box Score Pedro Alvarez earned a three-set win at No. 1 singles over Creighton's Matthew Lanahan who was a first-team all-Big East honoree a season ago with an undefeated conference record. Lanahan won the first set 6-4 but Alvarez responded by winning the next two sets by the same margin, 6-4, 6-4 for the win. The Blue Jays swept doubles for the point and won five singles matches with the Cougars Max Sandoval forcing a third set at No. 2 singles before losing 10-2 in the third.

"We stuggled in doubles for the first three games on all three courts and we couldn't catch back up," head coach Jack Barton said. "We played really hard and with a lot of effort in singles. We need to be a little more courageous and a little more disciplined. My message to them was that they need to reflect on their match and be very truthful to themselves about their performance and think about what adjustments need to be made for tomorrow."

Compete results listed below.

The Cougars will be back on the court tomorrow (Saturday, January 27) at home (H-F Racquet & Fitness) at 3 p.m. against Marquette as part of a men's/women's doubleheader with the women scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

Creighton vs Chicago State University
1/26/2024 at Homewood, Illinois
(H-F Racquet & Fitness)

Creighton 6, Chicago State University 1

Singles competition
1. Pedro Alvarez (CSUM) def. Matthew Lanahan (CREIGHTO) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. Zachary Kuo (CREIGHTO) def. Max Sandoval (CSUM) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 10-2
3. Alejandro Gandini (CREIGHTO) def. Rodrigo Alves (CSUM) 6-3, 6-3
4. Ethan Neil (CREIGHTO) def. Percy Siercke (CSUM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Yuma Daijima (CREIGHTO) def. Andrei-Rares Negrut (CSUM) 6-1, 6-2
6. Shin Inoue (CREIGHTO) def. Reed Gahagan (CSUM) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Matthew Lanahan/Kirtan Patel (CREIGHTO) def. Pedro Alvarez/Max Sandoval (CSUM) 6-2
2. Shin Inoue/Zachary Kuo (CREIGHTO) def. Percy Siercke/Rodrigo Alves (CSUM) 6-2
3. Alejandro Gandini/Yuma Daijima (CREIGHTO) def. Andrei-Rares Negrut/Hunter Austin (CSUM) 6-1

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

About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University Athletics is composed 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. 

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