The Illinois Springfield men's tennis team (3-3) continued its strong early-season form Saturday, earning a 6-1 victory over the Michigan Tech Huskies in its home opener at the Springfield Racquet & Fitness Center. The Prairie Stars set the tone by claiming the doubles point and carried that momentum into singles play.

The Prairie Stars earned the doubles point when the No. 2 team of Miran Todorovic and Kai Van Roon defeated their Huskies opponents 6-4, followed by a 6-3 win at No. 3 by Lukas Pieringer and Antonio Ayerbe Streubel. The No. 1 pairing of Pablo Herrera and Lin En Tan fell 6-4 in their match.

The Prairie Stars dominated singles action, winning five of six matches. No. 1 Pablo Herrera defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-2, and No. 3 Lin En Tan won 6-3, 6-0. Kai Van Roon earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 4, Luke Pennington won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5, and Miran Todorovic closed the day with a three-set win, 6-1, 2-6, 10-4, at No. 6. The only singles setback came at No. 2, where Antonio Ayerbe Streubel fell 6-3, 6-2.

"I'm very happy and proud of our men's team," said head coach Henrique Leal. "We have been working hard on our doubles and tried a few different pairings. Getting the doubles point gave us crucial energy. This was an impressive and important win against a team that beat us 6-1 last year."

Up Next
UIS heads back on the road next weekend with two matches on the schedule:

• Feb. 21 (Sat) – 2 p.m. at Drury
• Feb. 22 (Sun) – 9 a.m. vs. Southeastern Oklahoma State