In a road matchup on Sunday, the Illinois Springfield men's tennis team fell 5-2 to Drury. The Prairie Stars picked up a doubles win and two singles victories but were unable to overcome the Panthers' depth across the lineup.

Drury secured the doubles point by taking two of three matches. At No. 1, UIS earned its lone doubles victory as Pablo Herrera and Tan Lin En teamed for a 6-3 win. The Prairie Stars dropped a tight 7-5 decision at No. 2, with Miran Todorovic and Kai Van-Roon falling in a competitive battle. At No. 3, Lukas Pieringer and Antonio Ayerbe Streubel were edged 6-4 as Drury clinched the opening point.

In singles play, UIS collected wins at No. 3 and No. 4. Tan Lin En earned a straight-set victory at No. 3, 7-5, 7-5, in one of the most tightly contested matches of the day. Van-Roon followed with a hard-fought three-set win at No. 4, battling to a 7-6 first-set tiebreak, dropping the second 6-4, and securing the match in a 10-7 super tiebreak.

At the top of the lineup, Herrera fell 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1, and Ayerbe Streubel dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision at No. 2. Luke Pennington pushed his No. 5 match to a super tiebreak before falling 6-0, 2-6, 10-4. Todorovic rounded out the lineup at No. 6 with a 6-2, 6-3 loss.

UIS showed resilience in several close matches, including two three-set contests and a pair of tight first sets, but Drury ultimately secured the 5-2 team victory.

"This match was as close as it gets," said head coach Henrique Leal. "I'm really proud of how we competed against a very tough team. We were up a break on all three courts in doubles before Drury was able to fight back and win two of them. Every singles match was a battle, and all of them could have gone either way."

Leal also highlighted the strong start from freshman Luke Pennington, who started slow but bounced back to win the second set after dropping the opener 6-0. On other courts, Lin En Tan was down 5-3 in the first set before rallying to win 7-5.

"We have a lot to look forward to as we continue building something special here, and we'll keep working hard as the season progresses," said Leal.

Up Next
The Prairie Stars are set to meet Evangel at 10:30 a.m. on Monday at the same facility, the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.