NCAA Mens Tennis

Illini Emerge with Seven Wins from RedBird Invite

Illini Emerge with Seven Wins from RedBird Invite


CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois men’s tennis freshman Tyler Bowers went undefeated in singles play, while redshirt junior Lucas Horve picked up two wins at the Redbird Invitational from Oct. 7-9, hosted by Illinois State. 

Day one

The pair shut out DePaul’s Jona Gitschel and Shourya Verma, 8-0, in the first doubles match of the tournament. 

Horve also faced Verma in singles play, beating him, 6-2, 7-5. Bowers won his singles match, 6-1, 6-1, against Gitschel, the second win of his collegiate career. 

Day two

Horve and Bowers began the second day of competition with an 8-6 doubles win against the host school’s Nam Pham and Tomas Valencia. 

Horve picked up another sweep in singles play when he defeated Chicago State’s Pedro Alvarez, 7-6, 6-3. 

Bowers faced off with Chicago State’s Hugo Hidalgo Vega, battling and winning, 6-0, 4-6, 10-7, 

Day three

The grind of the weekend caught up to Horve and Bowers, as they narrowly lost their doubles match, 8-6, to Alvarez and Hidalgo Vega. 

Bowers battled against Vega and defeated him again, 6-0, 4-6, 10-7, sealing his 3-0 in singles action in the tournament. 

Horve had a rematch with Alvarez for singles play, but dropped the battle, 7-6, 6-3. 

Up next

The Illini are set to compete in the Dayton Invitational from Oct. 14-16 hosted by Dayton University.  

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