BERKELEY, Calif. – Fighting Illini men's tennis fell to the No. 11-ranked California Golden Bears, 4-3 on Saturday afternoon. Illinois is now 9-7 overall this season.
In doubles action, Cal took the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Juniors Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic fell to the No. 4-ranked Cal duo of Bergevi and Lakat, 6-2. The No. 65-ranked Cal pair of Goransson and Griffith defeated redshirt-senior Alex Jesse and freshman Aleks Kovacevic, 6-4 on court two to clinch the point.
In singles, Cal extended their early advantage to 2-0 with J.T. Nishimura's 6-2, 6-0 win on court six over Illinois freshman Vuk Budic. Fellow-freshman Zeke Clark put Illinois on the board with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win over Bjorn Hoffmann on court five. Vukic continued his winning ways to bring the match to two-all with a win on court one as the Illinois junior defeated No. 13-ranked Florian Lakat, 6-4, 6-4.
Cal would regain the lead with No. 71-ranked Billy Griffith's three-set winner against Kovacevic at the No. 3 position, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. The Golden Bears clinched the match victory with Filip Bergevi's 7-5, 7-6(6) win on court four over redshirt-senior Julian Childers.
The Top-50 matchup between No. 30 Hiltzik and Cal's No. 48 Andre Goransson would play out. After dropping the first set, Hiltzik was down 5-4 in the second set, but three consecutive breaks in the match forced a tiebreaker that Hiltzik won, 7-3. The Wilmette, Ill. native fell behind, 4-2 in the third set, but Hiltzik took five of the next six games to win the third set and seal the match victory, 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.
Up next, Illinois will remain in the Golden State for a Monday afternoon match up against the No. 22 Stanford Cardinal. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT from the Taube Family Tennis Center.
Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts
"Cal has a great team and great coaches. They were able to get the doubles point after we were up late breaks in two matches. Then in singles, J.T. (Nishimura) played a great match and started to put some pressure on us. We responded well and were in great position. Julian (Childers) had six set points to take the second and make the team match come down to him. So the guys put themselves in a position to win, but left too many things to chance and Cal capitalized."
Final Results
#11 Cal 4 | #25 Illinois 3
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 2*
- #4 Bergevi/Lakat (Cal) def. #23 Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) 6-2
- #65 Goransson/Griffith (Cal) def. Jesse/Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-4
- Clark/Gomes (Illinois) vs. Hoffmann/Nishimura (Cal) 6-5, unf.
Singles-Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 4*, 2
- #20 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. #13 Florian Lakat (Cal) 6-4, 6-4
- #30 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. #48 Andre Goransson (Cal) 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5
- #71 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
- #108 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. Julian Childers (Illinois) 7-5, 7-6(6)
- Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) 7-6(3), 6-1
- J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Vuk Budic (Illinois) 6-2, 6-0
Records- Illinois (9-7); Cal (13-5)
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