MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's tennis team fell 7-0 at Illinois State, Saturday, and dropped a 4-3 decision to Union College, Sunday.
In Bloomington,Ill.,
James McGuire and
Patrick Hammers teamed up at No. 2 doubles to come closest to a victory as they fell 8-5 to Michael Hobson and Xavier Riart-Ferrer. The Redbirds' Alexander Palaez and Filip Miljevic defeated
Jeff Cote and
Francisco Ortiz in No. 1 doubles play, 8-3.
Cote also competed in the No. 1 singles flight for Western, but was defeated by ISU's Timon Reichelt, by scores of 6-3 and 6-1. Hammers fell to Matej Zlatkovic, 7-5 and 6-3, at No. 3 singles. Alex Buceta was defeated at No. 5 singles, but came close to taking the second set as he fell 7-6 (3).
“This was another disappointing result for us. We've competed well with ISU over the last few years and expected to stretch some matches to three sets and maybe steal a match or two,” Western Illinois head coach Michael Hunt said. “Give credit to Coach (Cris) James - he has them playing very well and competing very hard. Their new player Pelaez is going to surprise a lot of people this year. He can flat out hit it. I would be surprised if they weren't in the top three of the (Missouri) Valley (Conference), battling for a title.”
Western Illinois hosted Union College at the Lakeside Racquet Club, Sunday. Cote defeated Nicolas Ernst at the No. 1 singles flight (2-6, 6-3, 6-4).
Rodrigo Azevedo beat Kyle Shilling in two sets, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 5 spot, while Alex Buceta defeated Lucas Oliveira with scores of 6-1 and 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
Mandela Shepard came close to defeating Pierre Vernin in the No. 3 spot as he won the second set (7-6) but fell 6-0 in the deciding match.
“Union College is a good team. They were a top ten team last season in the national NAIA rankings and they have some legitimate players,” Hunt said. “I thought (Jeff) Cote's win was very impressive, coming back from a set and a break down. Mandela (Shepard) played his heart out and was within two points of winning. He just couldn't finish it and then his body broke down in the third set with some cramping. Rodrigo (Azevedo) and Alex (Buceta) were impressive with their quick straight-set wins.”
Hammers and McGuire combined for Western's only doubles victory over Shilling and Oliveira, 8-4, in the No. 3 spot.
“We're improving. We've got a pretty inexperienced team and each time we go through a new situation, such as a 4-3 match, it's the first time for a lot of the guys,” Hunt said. ”We've played some pretty tough matches so far, but this was the first where we were home and probably favored. We had our chances to win and we just weren't able to come up with the right shots at the right times. But we'll learn something from this and move on and hopefully the next time we're in a tight match, we can pull from this experience. This was very much like a Summit League match for us, so that's good to get that in this early.”
The Fighting Leathernecks continue to work toward their first win in spring competition as the loss to Union moves them to 0-4 this season. Western kicks off three-straight road matches, starting at 4 p.m., Friday, Feb. 19 at Saint Louis.
