Freshman Andrew Eklov did not wait long to make his presence felt on the men’s tennis team.

On Oct. 10, he advanced to the Flight ‘B’ finals of the Louisville Fall Invitational.

This weekend, Eklov reached the Flight Two singles finals and the doubles finals of the UNLV Fall Classic. However, Eklov did not win either title.

“It was a little bit of a mixed bag of results for us,” said Illinois associate head coach Brad Dancer.

East Tennessee State’s Felix Insauuralde halted Eklov’s singles run. Insauuralde defeated Eklov 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

But Eklov is determined to learn from the mistakes he felt cost him the match.

“I learned that a bad attitude can screw up your game a little bit,” he said. “I was kind of frustrated out there and it brought my whole level of play down.”

For freshman Ruben Gonzales, the trip was a learning experience – it was in Las Vegas that he played his first collegiate matches.

“I felt pretty proud to put on the Illinois clothes,” Gonzales said. “That was great, that was a pretty special moment for me.”

Gonzales used the tournament to get his feet wet and said the tournament went smoothly.

“There were no surprises, I knew we were just going to play matches,” Gonzales said. “I think I competed well, but since I haven’t played a lot of matches, I’m a little rusty.”

Despite being a little rusty, Gonzales performed well.

He won two singles matches before falling to UNLV’s Joel Kielbowicz during Flight One competition. Kielbowicz beat Gonzales 6-3, 6-4.

“Obviously, I wish I would have won the tournament,” Gonzales said. “But it was still good.”

In doubles competition, the only team that could stop the Illinois duo of Gonzales and senior Evan Zeder was Eklov and Utah’s Ryan Scott.

Utah and Illinois both sent an odd number of players to the tournament. The UNLV tournament director paired Eklov with Scott, approximately 30 minutes before the tournament got underway.

“I knew that I was playing with someone different, but I didn’t know who,” Eklov said. “We were a pretty good team; we put together some good points.”

It is quite rare for athletes from different teams to play together during collegiate competition.

“Another team happened to be in the same boat as us and it worked out great,” Dancer said.

It can also be difficult to play with someone who an athlete has not played with before.

Eklov said not knowing his partner’s technique and playing style was one of the most difficult parts of the doubles competition.

Eklov and Scott defeated Gonzales and Zeder in the semifinal 8-4. However, the Illinois-Utah team was defeated in the finals by Utah’s Miron Mann and Zach Ganger. Mann and Ganger won 8-3.

“We had mental issues when we weren’t the best competitor, and that has to change,” Dancer said. “For Illinois tennis, we always want to be the strongest competitor on the court.”

Despite the mental lapses, Dancer said he felt the tournament was a positive experience for the men competing.

“They all won more matches than they lost, and that was good for their confidence,” he said.