Des Moines, Iowa.-- The Illinois State men's tennis team (5-14, 1-1 SUMMIT) defeated the Drake Bulldogs (7-9, 1-2 SUMMIT)  on Wednesday by a score of 4-3 inside Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

Head Coach Mark Klysner was happy with the compete level of the Birds against a polished Drake team "Holy, what a match. This is what conference play is all about. We have struggled all year in doubles and today we might have saved the best for last. It was a huge point to win and gave us such momentum going into the singles. Every guy gave everything they had. Shoutout to Tomas (Valencia) for the deciding clinch," Klysner said.

In doubles play, the Birds swept competition. At No. 1, juniors Tomas Valencia (Santiago, Chile) and Adrian Dibildox (Monterrey, Mexico) battled to a 7-5 win against Will Ecklund and Benjamin Johnson. At No. 2, juniors Caden Scarlett (Evansville, Ind.) and Tin Ostro (Zagreb, Croatia) picked up the second win of the day by a score of 7-5. The pair of freshman Christian Capacci (Forlimpopoli, Italy) and Manuel Pavia (Lana, Italy) claimed a narrow 6-4 over Jose Alessandro Hernandez and Adan Tarquino of the Bulldogs.

As play shifted to singles competition, ISU picked up three wins. At No. 1 Valencia took the tiebreaker against Christian Winstead by scores of 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Capacci defeated DU's Logan Tomovski in straight sets by scores of 6-4, 6-4. The final win for the red and white came thanks to Scarlett who persevered in a close match against Adan Tarquino by a score of 6-4, 7-6 (3).

DOUBLES:

No. 1-  Tomas Valencia/Adrian Dibildox (ISU) def. Will Ecklund/Benjamin Johnson (DU) 7-5

No. 2-  Caden Scarlett/Tin Ostro (ISU) def. Logan Tomovski/Christian Winstead (DU) 7-5

No. 3-  Manuel Pavia/Christian Capacci (ISU) def. Jose Alessandro Hernandez/Adan Tarquino (DU) 6-4

SINGLES:

No. 1- Tomas Valencia (ISU) def. Christian Winstead (DU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

No. 2- Jose Alessandro Hernandez (DU) def. Adrian Dibildox (ISU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5

No. 3- Benjamin Johnson (DU) def. Tin Ostro (ISU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

No. 4- Christian Capacci (ISU) def. Logan Tomovski (DU) 6-4, 6-4

No. 5- Will Ecklund (DU) def. Jett Leong (ISU) 6-4, 6-4

No. 6- Caden Scarlett (ISU) def. Adan Tarquino (DU) 6-4, 7-6(3)

UP NEXT-

Illinois State will return home to face the Denver Pioneers (10-6, 0-0 SUMMIT) on March 28 at 9:30 a.m. The Birds will have a quick turnaround as they face the St. Louis University Billikens (1-8, 0-0 A-10) of the Atlantic-10 Conference on March 29 at 4:30 p.m. inside Evergreen Racquet Club.

FOLLOW THE REDBIRDS-

For all the latest on Illinois State men's tennis, stay tuned to GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on "X" (RedbirdMTEN) and Instagram (redbirdmtennis).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets; Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos, and more.