Jan. 15, 2000

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The University of Illinois men's tennis team showed why its the three-time defending Big Ten Conference Champions at two different tournaments on Saturday.

At the Big Ten Singles Championship in East Lansing, Mich, all but one Illini netter advanced through the first two rounds. Fifth-seeded Graydon Oliver defeated Scott Mayer of Purdue 6-3, 6-4 and outlasted Northwestern's Jamie Sahara 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the second round. Sophomore Royce Ramey, the championship's No. 14 seed, dismissed Penn State's Steve VanderWesthuyzen 6-1, 6-4 and Carl McCafferty of Purdue 6-3, 6-4. Sophomore Ben Schreiber got past Sean Lasko of Michigan State 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and dominated his second match with Matt Wooster of Ohio State 6-1, 6-2.

After a 6-3, 6-3 win against Josh Axler of Northwestern, sophomore Nathan Zeder was taken to three sets in the second round by Michigan State's Ken Kigongo but pulled out the 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory. Matt Snyder also endured a three-set battle in the second. The senior opened the tournament with 7-5, 6-4 win against No. 13 seeded Milan Rakvica of Indiana before outdistancing Bobby Croll of Wisconsin 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Shaking off a first-set loss to Jimmy McGuire of Michigan State, sophomore Jamal Parker went on to victory 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Parker was not finished with close matches, getting the 6-4, 7-6 (10) win over Indiana's Ian Arona. Parker, the reigning ITA Regional doubles champion, faces No.1 seeded Tyler Cleveland of Iowa in the next round. Play on Sunday begins at 12:30 p.m.

Picking off from where he left off yesterday, senior Cary Franklin continued his solid showing at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Thousand Oaks, Calif. After a testy first-round battle, Franklin cruised in the round of 16, defeating Kentucky's Carlos Drada 6-0, 6-2. Senior Jeff Laski bounced back from an opening-round loss to stay alive in the consolation draw with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Jorge-Mario Escallon of Kentucky.