Although an ace from fifth-year senior Oscar Alvarez gave Creighton men’s tennis their first team point of the match, the Bluejays were defeated by a narrow margin of 4-3 to Illinois State, moving Creighton’s record to 9-4 and snapping their nine-game win streak.
On March 24, the Bluejays entered their home courts sporting a No. 64 ranking and a long win streak; however, even with strong starts from the doubles teams to get the first team point of the match, Creighton was unable to come out with a win.
Although the match would close with Creighton narrowly missing the win, the doubles teams gave Creighton the early 1-0 team lead.
At the No. 1 doubles spot, fifth-year senior Casey Ross and junior Matthew Lanahan took an early 4-2 lead over the Redbirds in their one set battle, and despite the Redbirds climbing back into the match 4-4, Creighton was able to triumph in a 6-4 win.
After No. 2 doubles lost their match 6-4, No. 3 doubles teammates Alvarez and freshman Zachary Kuo would determine which team received the first points of the match.
Alvarez and Kuo, after falling 4-5 to the Redbirds, fought back to tie the match 5-5, then took the lead 6-5 with Kuo in a position to serve for the match. Kuo lined up at the baseline to serve for the match, the score standing at 40-0.
Shouts erupted from the Bluejay side of the court as Kuo aced a serve to win the match 7-5 and secure the first team point.
After going up 1-0, Ross, playing at the singles position, defeated Illinois State in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. Freshman Alejandro Gandini, at the No. 3 singles position, was the only other Bluejays singles player to defeat the Redbirds in a three-set victory, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
The rest of the Bluejays lost their singles matches at the No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions.
“We have to work on our composure in some spots and play just a little better starting next week in practice,” head coach Tom Lilly said about the singles losses.
At the end of the match, Illinois State was ultimately victorious in a final team score of 4-3, simultaneously breaking Creighton’s 9-game win streak.
“We knew Illinois State had a talented team and has played a tough schedule with many close losses,” head coach Tom Lilly said following the match. “We won nine in a row and the majority were a lot like this match, but we weren’t able to turn the tide in a few singles matches today… we will keep getting better.”
The No. 64 Bluejays return to the court to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles at home on March 31 at 7 p.m.