YSU men’s tennis extends win streak, topping UIC

Staff Report

Streetsboro

The Youngstown State men’s tennis team picked up a 4-3 win over Illinois at Chicago on Friday at the Western Reserve Racquet Club in Streetsboro.

YSU is on a three-matching winning streak after dropping two straight against Cleveland State and Marquette in the end of March.

The Penguins (11-7, 4-1 Horizon League) battled to claim the doubles point before picking a pair of wins to jump out to a 3-0 lead over the Flames (5-13, 4-1). The Penguins then had to fend off a strong push by UIC to pick up a clinching singles victory which came by Vasilis Vardakis at No. 2 singles.

In doubles, the Penguins and Flames split matches at No. 1 and No. 2 by 6-4 scores. The Penguins picked up a 6-4 win at No. 2 as Luke Purser and Vardakis teamed up for a win over Niko Wasilewicz and William Wale. The point came down to a tiebreaker at No. 3. Yossi Dahan and Pol Virgili Blanco trailed 7-6 to Marcelo Dib and Pelle Strandberg, but a match-point opportunity by the Flames was long. The Penguins seized the momentum to score the next two points to earn the victory. Dahan had an ace and another UIC hitting error gave the win to the Penguins.

In singles play, Danylo Veremeichuk and Erik Gran picked up impressive singles victories for the Penguins. Veremeichuk dispatched of Johan Hedstrom at No. 1 by a score of 6-1, 6-1 and Gran defeated Pelle Strandberg at No. 6, 6-4, 6-0.

But the last point proved hard to come by until Vardakis was able to claim the win. Against Wasilewicz, he won the first set 6-4 before dropping the second. He was able to pick up a 7-5 third-set win to clinch the match for the Penguins.

YSU dropped tough three-set decisions at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Joao Garretto lost a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 contest to Kasper Parklo at No. 3 while Purser lost 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 to Anthony Nguyen.

The Penguins close out the regular season today against IUPUI. First serve at the Avalon Athletic Club in Boardman is set for 2:30 p.m.