University of Illinois
Stanford
Illini Topped by Stanford, 4-3
March 23, 2010 | Men's Tennis
March 23, 2010
Box Score
URBANA, Ill. - The 11th-ranked Illini men's tennis (10-6) had its season-best six-match winning streak snapped Tuesday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex, as No. 15 Stanford (9-3) held off a late rally to win the match, 4-3. Three Illini claimed singles wins on the day, including juniors Johnny Hamui and Abe Souza and freshman Stephen Hoh.
"I think all of our guys fought as hard as they could today," head coach Brad Dancer said. "When you play this hard and you fight like this, you put yourself in a position to win it, but today Stanford was just a little bit better than us. Marek (Czerwinski) has just been such an inspiration to this team. The way he played today and fought and the level of tennis was exceptionally high. I think it was a real treat to our fans to see that kind of tennis."
The Cardinal took control right from the start, sweeping all three doubles matches and carried the momentum over into singles with a win at the No. 6 spot to take a 2-0 lead. Wins by No. 77 Souza and Hamui evened the score at two apiece, before No. 8 Bradley Klahn defeated No. 36 Dennis Nevolo to give Stanford a 3-2 lead. An epic match at No. 2 singles eventually clinched it for the Cardinal, as No. 35 Alex Clayton claimed a hard-fought victory over No. 64 Marek Czerwinski, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (10). Hoh closed out the day with a come-from-behind three-set defeat of Richard Wire, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) to extend his team-best winning streak to seven matches.
The Illini will head to the West Coast to face No. 30 Pepperdine on Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m. CT.
Match Results
#15 Stanford 4, #11 Illinois 3
Singles competition
1. #8 Bradley Klahn (STAN) def. #36 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
2. #35 Alex Clayton (STAN) def. #64 Marek Czerwinski (ILL) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (12-10)
3. Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. #65 Ryan Thacher (STAN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. #77 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Greg Hirshman (STAN) 7-5, 7-5
5. Stephen Hoh (ILL) def. Richard Wire (STAN) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Denis Lin (STAN) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #2 Ryan Thacher/Bradley Klahn (STAN) def. #6 Marek Czerwinski/Dennis Nevolo (ILL) 8-4
2. #30 Richard Wire/Alex Clayton (STAN) def. Stephen Hoh/Johnny Hamui (ILL) 8-3
3. Denis Lin/Matt Kandath (STAN) def. Abe Souza/Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,4,3,1,2,5)
