URBANA, Ill. – The second day of the Fighting Illini Invite saw Illinois post a doubles win and three singles victories at Atkins Tennis Center on Saturday.
Playing in the second of three days of competition, the Illini, No. 8 Columbia, and Boise State all participated in both singles and doubles action in a hidden dual-style format.
With the three teams starting the day with doubles play, William Mroz and Jeremy Zhang earned their third doubles win of the weekend, taking down Boise State's Dylan Jaen and Taiyo Kurata, 6-4.
Zach Viiala delivered the Orange and Blue's first singles win of the afternoon. After claiming the opening frame, Viiala clinched the victory over Boise State's Julius Seifert in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, for his first collegiate singles win at Atkins.
Max Mroz was not far behind, sealing the first singles win of his collegiate career with a straight-set decision over the Broncos' Dylan Jaen. Pulling ahead via a hard-fought first-set tiebreaker, Mroz broke Jaen's serve twice in the second set en route to a 7-6(6), 6-1 victory.Â
William Mroz secured the final Illini win of the day against Boise State's Carson Baker. A 6-3 victory in the first frame followed by a 6-4 loss in the second set sent the match to a tiebreaking third, in which William Mroz broke twice to take the set, 6-1, and the match.
The final day of the Fighting Illini Invite is set for Sunday, with doubles action slated to begin at 9 a.m. CT. The participating schools will then conclude the weekend with another slate of singles matches immediately following doubles play.
Day 2 Results
Doubles
No. 35 Nicolas Kotzen/Max Westphal (Columbia) def. Jett Midddleton/Lukas Velik (Boise State), 6-0
Sachin Palta/Michael Zheng (Columbia) def. No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-2
No. 75 Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (Columbia) def. Julius Seifert/Idriss Haddouch (Boise State), 6-1
Andrew Kotzen/Thanaphat Boosarawongse (Columbia) def. Carson Baker/James Van Herzeele (Boise State), 6-3
William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Dylan Jaen/Taiyo Kurata (Boise State), 6-4
Singles
No. 1 Michael Zheng (Columbia) def. No. 14 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-4, 7-6(4)
No. 42 Nicolas Kotzen (Columbia) def. No. 111 Jett Middleton (Boise State), 6-1, 7-6(7)
Max Westphal (Columbia) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0
Sachin Palta (Columbia) def. Idriss Haddouch (Boise State), 6-2, 6-1
Thanaphat Boosarawongse (Columbia) def. Tyler Bowers (Illinois), 6-4, 7-6(3)
Jayden Templeman (Columbia) def. James Van Herzeele (Boise State), 6-1, 6-1
Lukas Velik (Boise State) def. Andrew Kotzen (Columbia), 6-3, 7-5
Jordan Chang (Columbia) def. Taiyo Kurata (Boise State), 6-2, 6-0
Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Julius Seifert (Boise State), 6-4, 6-3
No. 30 William Mroz (Illinois) def. Carson Baker (Boise State), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Max Mroz (Illinois) def. Dylan Jaen (Boise State), 7-6(6), 6-1
Jordan Chang (Columbia) def. John Chin (Boise State), 6-4, 6-7(3), 1-0 (10-5)
