University of Illinois
LSU
Illini Tame Tigers In Home Thriller, 6-1
February 9, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2008
Box Score |
Illinois vs LSU 
URBANA, Ill. - The 2007 NCAA finalist Illinois men's tennis team and the nation's 12th-ranked squad did not waste any time in starting a new home winning streak, returning home to the Atkins Tennis Center in style as it downed the No. 17 LSU Tigers, 6-1, tonight in Urbana. With a full house of almost 600 fans looking on, Illinois could not be stopped, sweeping the doubles portion of the evening before rattling off three straight singles wins to seal the victory. The night was capped off with the clinching win from senior and 15th-ranked Ryan Rowe at No. 2 singles, who defeated Colt Gaston (LSU) in straight sets.
"We have been talking all week about starting a new winning streak here at home, so this was a great start to that," head coach Brad Dancer said. "From here, we have to still just keep striving to get better. I don't think the LSU played their best tennis tonight, but we still definitely had a lot of good performances from our guys. We now head to ITA Indoors, and if we want to get where we know we can be this season, we have to just keep working hard and getting better with every match and every practice."
With the win, Illinois improved to 3-2 on the year, while LSU lost its first match of the 2008 season, dropping to 1-1 overall.
Illinois started off sharp in doubles as all three tandems came out on a mission from the first serve. Senior Ryan Rowe and sophomore Billy Heiser were the first Illini pair to bring the fans to their feet, as they quickly broke LSU's Michael Venus and James Cluskey at 3-all before securing another break to take a 7-3 lead at No. 1 doubles. The 36th-ranked duo in the country did not waste much time thereafter, polishing off the LSU tandem, 8-4.
On court two, seniors Brandon Davis and Ruben Gonzales (ILL) were taking care of business in their contest against Kevin Dessauer and Colt Gaston (LSU). The UI duo was dead-even in its match at 1-all, before it broke open the affair with a break and then one for insurance to lead 5-2. Davis/Gonzales (ILL) defended their lead down the stretch, serving out the match victory (8-5) to seal the doubles point for Illinois. With the damage already done, junior Marc Spicijaric and freshman Waylon Chin (ILL) put the finishing touches on a doubles sweep, as they held off a feisty Tigers team of Jan Zelezny and Julien Gauthier, winning in the tiebreak, 9-8(9).
Gonzales (ILL) then kicked off the singles portion of the night with a highlight reel of forehand winners, punishing Venus (LSU) in the opening set, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. From there, the LSU Tiger was no match for the solid play of the Illini senior, as Gonzales (ILL) punctuated the win with an ace on match point, 6-4, to give Illinois the 2-0 advantage. Spicijaric at No. 4 was not far behind, as he used an on-the-mark backhand and frustrating defense to capture the opening set over Cluskey (LSU), 6-3. Continuing to dictate play for the remainder of the match, Spicijaric (ILL) broke the Tiger's serve at 4-all to take a 5-4 lead and serve his way into victory, 6-4.
With a convincing 3-0 lead in the match, it became a horse race to the finish line the rest of the night, with 15th-ranked Rowe (ILL) finally sealing the dual victory at No. 2 singles. While the opening set was a back-and-forth affair, Rowe (ILL) grabbed a break at 2-all to take a 3-2 lead and never looked back en route to the opening frame, 6-4. The second set played out as the first, with the lefty Rowe (ILL) just taking it to Gaston (LSU) with every swing. With a pivotal break at 4-all, Rowe (ILL) put the match right where he wanted it, on his powerful serve. Giving up only one point during his final service game, the Illini senior brought the Illini fans to their feet, winning 6-4 to close out the match and the win.
LSU finally found the scoreboard with a win on court six in the final happenings of the night, but Chin (ILL) added to the 6-1 victory for Illinois with his upending of Gauthier (LSU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, on court five, while Heiser (ILL) gutted out another victory at No. 3 singles, topping No. 88 Zelezny (LSU), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The Illini, after hosting No. 17 LSU, head to the USTA/ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash, on Feb. 15-18. The Illini, seeded 11th, open play at the 2008 Indoor Championships against sixth-seeded USC on Friday, Feb. 15, with the match time scheduled for 4:30 CT, 2:30 local time at the Seattle Tennis Club. Should the Illini advance, the will face either defending Big Ten Champions and third-seeded Ohio State or 14th-seeded Boise State in the quarterfinals.
#12 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 6, #17 LOUSIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 1
2/9/2008 AT URBANA, ILL. (ATKINS TENNIS CENTER)
Singles competition
1. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Michael Venus (LSU) - 6-1, 6-4
2. #15 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. #99 Colt Gaston (LSU) - 6-4, 6-4
3. #70 Billy Heiser (ILL) def. #88 Jan Zelezny (LSU) - 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
4. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. James Cluskey (LSU) - 6-3, 6-4
5. Waylon Chin (ILL) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) - 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
6. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Brandon Davis (ILL) - 6-4, 6-7(5), 1-0(6)
Doubles competition
1. #36 Ryan Rowe / Billy Heiser (ILL) def. Michael Venus / James Cluskey (LSU) - 8-4
2. Brandon Davis / Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Kevin Dessauer / Colt Gaston (LSU) - 8-5
3. Waylon Chin / Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Jan Zelezny / Julien Gauthier (LSU) - 9-8(9)
Match Notes
University of Illinois (3-2), National Rankings - 12
LSU (1-1), National Ranking - 17
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (1, 4, 2, 5, 6, 3)
