Box Score The Chicago State men's tennis team opened Horizon League play with a 5-2 home loss to Northern Kentucky Saturday at the H-F Racquet and Fitness Club in Homewood. The Cougars earned the doubles point, winning tiebreakers at No. 1 and No. 2 and
Pedro Alvarez won his 10th consecutive match at No. 1 singles to improve his singles record to 13-2 for CSU's scoring. NKU earned a pair of straight-set wins but were extended to three sets in three matches to pull out the win.
"I thought that the fight today from the guys was good," head coach
Jack Barton said. "Doubles really gave us the energy we needed going into singles. We found ourselves down 5-3 at No. 1 doubles and up 4-1 No. 3, then it totally flipped. We lost No. 3 and won at No. 1. The steadiness of Rodrigo and Zak helped us win the doubles point.
"In singles, it came down to Zak and Percy. Both were down 4-1 in the 3rd set and they fought to get it back to 4-4. NKU really played aggressively the rest of the way on both courts and I think we got a bit tight. They played to win and we played not to lose and usually the aggressive team wins in those situations.
"The effort was there so I challenged the guys tonight to think about being more brave tomorrow and asked them what can they do to be better. It was a great tennis match by both teams."
Compete results listed below.
The Cougars will stay in Horizon League play tomorrow (Sunday, March 16), hosting IUPUI at 10 a.m. at H-F Racquet and Fitness in Homewood.
Northern Kentucky vs Chicago State University
3/16/2024 at Homewood, Illinois
(H-F Racquet and Fitness)
Northern Kentucky 5, Chicago State University 2
Singles competition
1.
Pedro Alvarez (CSUM) def. Nick Hienhaus (NKUM) 6-2, 6-3
2. Brandon Ponomarew (NKUM) def.
Rodrigo Alves (CSUM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
3. Josef Zapletal (NKUM) def.
Max Sandoval (CSUM) 6-2, 6-1
4. Tom Berry (NKUM) def.
Zak Radziwillowicz (CSUM) 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
5. Trevor Ball (NKUM) def.
Percy Siercke (CSUM) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
6. Santiago Casamayor (NKUM) def.
Andrei-Rares Negrut (CSUM) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1.
Pedro Alvarez/
Max Sandoval (CSUM) def. Josef Zapletal/Santiago Casamayor (NKUM) 7-6 (9-7)
2.
Rodrigo Alves/
Zak Radziwillowicz (CSUM) def. Brandon Ponomarew/Nick Hienhaus (NKUM) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Emilio Bravo/Trevor Ball (NKUM) def.
Percy Siercke/
Andrei-Rares Negrut (CSUM) 7-5
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,1,3,2,4,5)
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