EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Sophomore Austin Russell (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) and sophomore Kevin Daun (Vasteras, Sweden/Widenska Gymnasiet Idrottscollege) each went unbeaten in singles plays as the NIU men’s tennis team completed play at the SIU Edwardsville Fall Invitational. Daun was the co-winner of flight five singles while junior Carlos Manzanas (Madrid, Spain/IES Principe Felipe) and senior Simon Formont (Orléans, France/Lycée Camille Claudel) won the flight three doubles crown.

“Austin (Russell) played great, he really made some big strides and it is great to see him playing as well as he is playing,” said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. “Hopefully he can continue that. Kevin (Daun) played well in singles, but he struggled in doubles.

“The weekend as a whole was a little disappointing and we have a lot of work to do. Our guys need to understand what the standards are for our program and make some adjustments. We aren’t at the level we were at this time last year, even though we have an older team, and that is disappointing.”

Russell posted a perfect 3-0 mark while playing in three different flights. In his first match in flight six, Russell bettered Egehan Sertkaya of Illinois State, 6-3, 6-2. Moving up to flight three in his second match, Russell outlasted SIU Edwardsville’s Jack Desse, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. Playing in his third different flight at number four, Russell capped his perfect singles weekend with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over John Nogalski of Saint Louis.

Daun posted victories in both of his singles matches in flight five to share the flight title with Illinois State’s Dylan Steffens. In his first match of the tournament against Dan Lineberry of SIU Edwardsville, Daun posted a 6-4, 7-5 win before knocking off Charlie Parry of Saint Louis, 6-2, 7-5.

In doubles action, Manzanas and Formont claimed a pair of wins in flight three to win the flight. The Huskie duo opened the tournament with an 8-7 (7-5) win over SIU Edwardsville’s Tristan Houle and Dan Lineberry. The NIU tandem followed up with an 8-5 victory over Christoffer Greve and Dylan Steffens of Illinois State.

The pair moved up to flight one for the final match of the tournament where they were edged, 8-7 (7-4) by John Nogalski and Juan Calero of Saint Louis.

NIU will have nearly a month off before returning to action at the ITA Midwest Regional Championship, Oct. 15-18, in South Bend, Ind.


NIU Results

Singles
R1F1 Jakub Eisner (Illinois State) def. Simon Formont (NIU) 3-6, 7-5, 10-6
R2F1 Marten Jonsson (SIUE) def. Carlos Manzanas (NIU) 6-2, 6-1
R3F1 Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Juan Calero (Saint Louis) 3-6, 6-3, 10-7
R1F2 Rodrigo Oliveira (Illinois State) def. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-7
R2F2 Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Patrick Gaffigan (SIUE) 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 10-7
R3F2 David Ferragut (Saint Louis) def. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
R1F3 Carlos Manzanas (NIU) def. Andreas Boers (Illinois State) 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)
R2F3 Austin Russell (NIU) def. Jack Desse (SIUE) 2-6, 6-3, 10-8
R3F3 Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Paarth Dodhiawala (Saint Louis) 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 10-7
R1F4 Christoffer Greve (Illinois State) def. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) 6-2, 6-4
R2F4 Nico Kuehn (SIUE) def. Eric Marbach (NIU) 6-4, 6-1
R3F4 Austin Russell (NIU) def. John Nogalski (Saint Louis) 6-3, 6-1
R1F5 Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Dylan Steffens (Illinois State) 6-3, 6-4
R2F5 Kevin Daun (NIU) def. Dan Lineberry (SIUE) 6-4, 7-5
R3F5 Kevin Daun (NIU) def. Charlie Parry (Saint Louis) 6-2, 7-5
R1F6 Austin Russell (NIU) def. Egehan Sertkaya (Illinois State) 6-3, 6-2
R2F6 Tristan Houle (SIUE) def. Erich Schuette (NIU) 6-4, 6-1
R3F6 Miguel Flores (Saint Louis) def. Eric Marbach (NIU) 6-4, 6-1
R1F7 Eric Marbach (NIU) def. Rory Samuels (Illinois State) 7-5, 6-0
R3F7 Oscar Pachon (Saint Louis) def. Erich Schuette (NIU) 6-2, 4-6, 10-7

Doubles
R1F1 Marten Jonsson/Patrick Gaffigan (SIUE) def. Georg Lundkvist/Kevin Daun (NIU) 8-3
R2F1 Rodrigo Oliveira/Andreas Boers (Illinois State) def. Georg Lundkvist/Kevin Daun (NIU) 8-6
R3F1 John Nogalski/Juan Calero (Saint Louis) def. Simon Formont/Carlos Manzanas (NIU) 8-7 (7-4)
R1F2 Eric Marbach/Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Nico Kuehn/Jack Desse (SIUE) 8-7 (7-3)
R2F2 Jakub Eisner/Egehan Sertkaya (Illinois State) def. Eric Marbach/Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU 8-7 (10-8)
R3F2 Tom Hjertonsson/Erich Schuette (NIU) def. Miguel Flores/David Ferragut (Saint Louis) 8-6
R1F3 Carlos Manzanas/Simon Formont (NIU) def. Tristan Houle/Dan Lineberry (SIUE) 8-7 (7-5)
R2F3 Carlos Manzanas/Simon Formont (NIU) def. Christoffer Greve/Dylan Steffens (Illinois State) 8-5
R2F3 Tom Hjertonsson/Austin Russell (NIU) def. Paarth Dodhiawala/Oscar Pachon (Saint Louis) 8-6
R3F3 Paarth Dodhiawala/Oscar Pachon (Saint Louis) def. Kevin Daun/Austin Russell (NIU) 8-5