Illini Breeze Past Western Michigan, 4-0

Friday, May 11

Urbana, Ill.

3:00 PM

University of Illinois

Western Michigan

May 11, 2007 | Men's Tennis

May 11, 2007

Final Stats |  NCAA First Round Photo Gallery 

URBANA, Ill. - The No. 10 Illinois men's tennis team took care of business in its first-round match against No. 54 Western Michigan, downing the Broncos 4-0 at the Atkins Tennis Center today in the opening round of the Illinois Regional. The Illini have now won 15 straight home matches, dating back to April 2006, and are now 14-2 overall in the NCAA Tournament when hosting, and 9-0 in the first round since 1999.

"It was not the best way to start, but the guys recovered and took care of business when they needed to," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We were a little shaky to start out. I think perhaps having a week off from competition allowed us to not come out as sharp as we can be, but I know these guys and they will come out with their best tomorrow against Michigan."

Since the tournament opened to a 64-team field in 1999, the Illini have advanced to the second round every year with the win today and are overall 9-3 since their first appearance in 1996. Illinois also is 8-1 in the first round as the host.

Illinois will face Michigan tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the final of the Illinois Regional, making it the third time the Illini will face the Wolverines this year.

Tomorrow's matchup serves as the rubber match between the two Big Ten squads, as Michigan took the regular season meeting, 5-2, while most recently Illinois handed the Wolverines a 4-1 setback in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan is looking for its first berth into the Round of 16 since the NCAA opened the field to 64 teams in 1999, while the Illini are looking to make the tournament's Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time in the last nine years. Illinois is 7-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament overall and as the host, losing only to Mississippi State in 2001 (4-2).

In the match against the Broncos, Illinois won the doubles point behind solid wins from its Nos. 1 and 3 doubles teams, who both posted 8-3 victories to give the Illini a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

From there, Illinois' sophomore Marc Spicijaric gave Illinois a 2-0 lead after easing past Kevin Hayward, 6-3, 6-1, on court three, while junior Ruben Gonzales (No. 4 singles) put the Illini a win from the second round after dismantling Alex Birchmeier, 6-2, 6-2.

Senior GD Jones put the finishing touches on another Illini home win, as he battled through his match to take a straight-sets victory over John Pelton, 7-6(4), 7-5.

The match tomorrow against Michigan can be followed through live scoring, while a recap of the match also will be available following the conclusion of the match. Both can be found at fightingillini.com.

TENNIS MATCH RESULTS

NCAA ILLINOIS REGIONAL

FIRST ROUND

URBANA, ILL

5/11/07

#10 ILLINOIS def. #54 WESTERN MICHIGAN, 4-0

Singles Competition

1. #5 Kevin Anderson (ILL) vs. Tim Bradshaw (WMU) 6-3, 2-6, 4-1, unfinished

2. #22 Ryan Rowe (ILL) vs. Brady Crosby (WMU) 4-6, 5-5, unfinished

3. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Kevin Hayward (WMU) 6-3, 6-1

4. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Alex Birchmeier (WMU) 6-2, 6-2

5. GD Jones (ILL) def. John Pelton (WMU) 7-6 (7-2), 7-5