Jan. 13, 2001

Ann Arbor, MI--Four of six Illini men in the main singles draw survived the first two rounds of the Big Ten Singles tournament to advance to the Round of 16 tomorrow.

In the Round of 64, freshman Michael Calkins defeated Jon Scale (Ohio State) 6-4, 7-5. Calkins then went on to outlast Iowa's Stuart Waters 7-6 (5), 7-6(4) in the Round of 32. Senior Ben Schreiber lost in the first round to the No. 6 seed Chris Porter (Ohio State) 6-2, 6-3, and then went on to the back draw, dropping a 6-1, 7-5 decision to Penn State's Damon Accardi. Illinois freshman Philip Stolt, seeded No. 7 in the tournament, netted Indiana's Zach Held 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. Stolt then pulled off a tough 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Ohio State's Martin Johannson in the Round of 32.

"Overall it was a very good day for us," said Head Coach Craig Tiley. "We're without three of our starters (Graydon Oliver- shoulder, Nathan Zeder-wrist, and Amer Delic-wrist), but our young guys really stepped it up. We had a solid performance from everyone today, and I'm happy with the point we're at to start the season."

In bottom half of the draw, junior Mike Kosta started the day with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Iowa's Matis Jasicek. In the Round of 32, he ousted Minnesota's Tyson Parry 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Fellow junior Jamal Parker fell 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to Northwestern player Jamie Sahara. Freshman Brian Wilson gained a 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Adrian Bohane of Ohio State, and then went on to defeat Wisconsin's Brook Baratz 6-2, 6-0 in the Round of 32.

"We all did really well today," said Kosta. "Tomorrow will be more of a test for us, we'll see some better players and we'll see where we stand."

"We have great representation," said Stolt. "To have four guys in the Round of 16 is exceptional."

In the 7-8-9 draw, sophomore Alex Hobson downed Penn State's Michael Anderson 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-3. Junior Alex Muresan fell 6-4, 6-4 to Purdue's Troy Havens.

Tomorrow the tournament will see the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals of the main draw, as well as the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 7-8-9 draw. Results can be found at www.MGoBlue.com/tennis-m, or the University of Illinois website www.fightingillini.com. The tournament concludes Monday evening.