CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Fighting Illini men's tennis team fell short of completing a comeback Sunday night in the consolation bracket of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship at Boar's Head Sports Club, dropping its match to No. 5 Oklahoma, 4-2. No. 12 Illinois moves to 5-3 on the season.

"Tonight was frustrating. We played hard in doubles and were maybe a bit unfortunate in spots there," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Our guys that were down early in singles did a great job of fighting back into their matches to put themselves back into contention." 

Illinois dropped the doubles point for the third consecutive day at National Indoors. In tightly contested matches on all three courts, Oklahoma garnered victories on courts two and three to take the early advantage. Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik fell 7-6 to Papa/ Alvarez Llamas at the No. 2 position. Julian Childers and Brian Page suffered a 7-5 loss to Siegel/Biro. Alex Jesse and Jared Hiltzik were in a tiebreak with Harris/Ghilea when play was stopped.

Illinois suffered a slow start in singles, as the Sooners took a 3-1 advantage. Aleks Vukic evened the score at 1-1 with a straight set (6-3, 6-0) victory over No. 60 Axel Alvarez Llamas. Oklahoma claimed the next two matches on courts four and five. Brian Page fell to Maxime Mora 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 5 position and Childers lost in straight sets (6-1, 7-6) to Florin Bragusi.

Illinois reversed the momentum, as Asher Hirsch and Aron Hiltzik both forced their respective matches to a third set by claiming a second set tiebreak. No. 10 Jared Hiltzik kept the momentum on Illinois' side with a victory on court one to reduce the deficit to 3-2. Hiltzik defeated Spencer Papa 7-6, 7-6.

Despite being up a break in the third set in both of the remaining matches, the Illini were unable to claim a third set victory at the No. 3 or No. 6 positions. The clincher came on court six where Andre Biro defeated Hirsch by the scores of 6-0, 6-7, 6-3.

Up next, the Orange and Blue return home to face another stretch of highly ranked opponents. UI will host No. 3 Texas A&M on Feb. 21 at Noon. The following weekend, the Illini will host No. 1 Virginia on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. and No. 2 TCU on Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.

#5 Oklahoma 4, #12 Illinois 2

Singles competition

1. #12 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. #60 Axel Alvarez Llamas (OU) 6-3, 6-0

2. #10 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. Spencer Papa (OU) 7-6, 7-6

3. #85 Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. #69 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 6-4, 5-7, 4-5, unfinished

4. Florin Bragusi (OU) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 6-1, 7-6

5. Maxime Mora (OU) def. Brian Page (ILL) 6-0, 6-3

6. Andre Biro (OU) def. Asher Hirsch (ILL) 6-0, 6-7, 6-3

 Doubles competition

1. Andrew Harris/Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. Alex Jesse/Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-6, unfinished

2. Spencer Papa/Axel Alvarez Llamas (OU) def. Aleks Vukic/Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 7-6

3. Austin Siegel/Andre Biro (OU) def. Julian Childers/Brian Page (ILL) 7-5

Match Notes:

Illinois 5-3; National ranking #12

Oklahoma 5-3; National ranking #5

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,5,4,2,6)

ITA National Team Indoor Consolation Match