Men's Tennis | September 17

RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Iker Gaztambide Arrastia won the flight four singles crown while Oliver Valentinsson and Armin Koschtojan paired to take the flight two doubles title as the Northern Illinois University men's tennis team opened the season on the clay at the River Forest Collegiate Tennis Invitational this weekend (Sept. 16-17) at River Forest Tennis Club and the Oak Park Tennis Center. 

Making his collegiate debut, Gaztambide Arrastia dropped just four games in three matches. The Spaniard opened with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Sebastian Munoz of Saint Louis in the opening round. He then topped Illinois State's Tin Ostro, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals before claiming the title with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Thomas Wallace of Eastern Illinois. 

Valentinsson and Koschtojan began their run to the flight two doubles championship with a 6-3 victory over Pau Riera and Max Pilipovic-Kljajic of Eastern Illinois. The NIU duo advanced to the final with a 6-2 win against UIC's Artem Iermolov and Jai Vallurupalli. In the final, Valentinsson and Koschtojan dispatched of Adrian Dibildox and Tin Ostro from Illinois State, 6-4. 

In singles play, Valentinsson took second in flight two, dropping a narrow decision in the final on a 10-point match tiebreaker. The Malmo, Sweden native began the tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Pelle Strandberg of UIC. In the semifinals, Valentinsson took the 10-point tiebreaker in a 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 win against Jared Phillips of Washington-St. Louis but then fell in the tiebreaker, 5-7, 6-2, 12-10, to DePaul's Leon Huck in the final. 

(Roger) Cheng En Tsai finished third in singles play in flight one. After collecting a 6-4, 6-4 win against DePaul's Sven Moser to open the tournament, he dropped a tight semifinal, 6-0, 4-6, 10-6 against Phuc Huynh from Washington-St. Louis. In the third-place match, the Huskie newcomer topped Miroslav Cvjetan from UIC, 6-4, 6-0. 

Play in flight seven singles was conducted as a round-robin, rather than a traditional tournament format and Hsiang (Jason) Lee went a perfect 3-0 for NIU. Lee started with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 win against Matias Maule from Washington St. Louis before defeating a pair of players from St. Louis, topping Sanjayah Kodali, 3-6, 6-1, 10-8, and Jonathan Sadowski in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. 

Elsewhere in doubles, the pairings of Cheng En Tsai and Mikael Vollbach in flight one along with Christopher Knutson and Christopher Norlin in flight two each went 2-1 to earn third place finishes in their respective flights. 

NIU will next be in action at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Urbana-Champaign, Ill., Oct. 20-24. 


Flight One Singles
(Roger) Cheng En Tsai (NIU) def. Sven Moser (DePaul), 6-4, 6-4
Phuc Huynh (Washington-St. Louis) def. (Roger) Cheng En Tsai (NIU), 6-0, 4-6, 10-6
(Roger) Cheng En Tsai (NIU) def. Miroslav Cvjetan (UIC), 6-4, 6-0

Flight Two Singles
Oliver Valentinsson (NIU) def. Pelle Strandberg (UIC), 6-3, 7-6
Oliver Valentinsson (NIU) def. Jared Phillips (Washington-St. Louis), 6-4, 4-6, 10-4
Leon Huck (DePaul) def. Oliver Valentinsson (NIU), 5-7, 6-2, 12-10
Theo Ortis (Saint Louis) def. Mikael Vollbach (NIU) 6-4, 6-3
Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Melker Osaksson (Illinois State), 6-0, 7-5
Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Pelle Strandeberg (UIC), 6-3, 1-6, 10-7

Flight Three Singles
Armin Koschtojan (NIU) def. Pato Garcia Muriel (Washington-St. Louis), 6-3, 6-2
Arvid Hjatle (Illinois State) def. Armin Koschtojan (NIU), 6-1, 6-4
Jona Gitchel (DePaul) def. Armin Koschtojan (NIU), 6-2, 5-7, 10-5

Flight Four Singles
Adrian Dibidox (Illinois State) def. Christopher Norlin (NIU), 4-6, 6-2, 11-9
Gustavo Schwebel (UIC) def. Christopher Norlin (NIU), 7-6, 6-2
Adam Behun (Saint Louis) def. Christopher Norlin (NIU), 6-4, 1-6, 10-7

Flight Five Singles
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) def. Sebastian Munoz (Saint Louis), 6-0, 6-2
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) def. Tin Ostro (Illinois State), 6-0, 6-0
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) def. Thomas Wallace (Eastern Illinois), 6-1, 6-1
Artem Iermolov (UIC) def. Guy Dagan (NIU), 7-5, 6-4
Lucas Guy (Washington-St. Louis) def. Guy Dagan (NIU), 7-5, 5-7, 10-6
Sebastian Munoz (Saint Louis) def. Guy Dagan (NIU), 6-3, 6-4

Flight Six Singles
Sansh Kumar (Saint Louis) def. Christopher Knutson (NIU), 6-2, 6-0
Luiz Dos Santos (UIC) def. Christopher Knutson (NIU), 6-1, 6-2
Christopher Knutson (NIU) def. Will Hays (Eastern Illinois), 6-3, 4-6, 10-8

Flight Seven Singles
Hsiang (Jason) Lee (NIU) def. Matias Maule (Washington-St. Louis), 6-4, 3-6, 10-7
Hsiang (Jason) Lee (NIU) def. Sanjayah Kodali (Saint Louis), 3-6, 6-1, 10-8
Hsiang (Jason) Lee (NIU) def. Jonathan Sadowski (Saint Louis), 6-3, 6-4

Flight One Doubles
(Roger) Cheng En Tsai/Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Arvid Hjalte/Emiliano Gonzalez (Illinois State), 7-5
Abhi Ramireddy/Phuc Huynh (Washington-St. Louis) def. (Roger) Cheng En Tsai/Mikael Vollbach (NIU), 6-4
(Roger) Cheng En Tsai/Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Miroslav Cvjetan/Pelle Strandberg (UIC), 6-2

Flight Two Doubles
Oliver Valentinsson/Armin Koschtojan (NIU) def. Pau Riera/Max Pilipovic-Kljajic (Eastern Illinois), 6-3
Oliver Valentinsson/Armin Koschtojan (NIU) def. Artem Iermolov/Jai Vallurupalli (UIC), 6-2
Oliver Valentinsson/Armin Koschtojan (NIU) def. Adrian Dibildox/Tin Ostro (Illinois State), 6-4
Christopher Knutson/Christopher Norlin (NIU) def. Sven Moser/Lars Peder Minsaas (DePaul), 7-6
Adrian Dibildox/Tin Ostro (Illinois State) def. Christopher Knutson/Christopher Norlin (NIU), 6-4
Christopher Knutson/Christopher Norlin (NIU) def. Artem Iermolov/Jai Vallurupalli (UIC), 6-3

Flight Three Doubles
Cameron Slabbert/Alex Dinkov (Eastern Illinois) def. Guy Dagan/Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU), 6-3
Guy Dagan/Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) def. Lucas Guy/Matias Maule (Washington-St. Louis), 6-2
Colin Scruggs/Pato Garcia Muriel (Washington-St. Louis) def. Guy Dagan/Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU), 7-6