![Gavin Sontag ('99) [pictured] and Jerry Turek ('97) picked up a major victory over the weekend on the futures circuit. See story on men's tennis ITA National Indoor Championships for more on Sontag and Turek.](https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Ffightingillini.com%2Fimages%2F2001%2F2%2F13%2Fa-Sontag--alumni.jpg&height=300&type=webp)
Illinois Heads For ITA National Indoor Championships
February 13, 2001 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 13, 2001
The Fighting Illini men's tennis team takes a 4-1 record into this weekend's ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash. Coach Craig Tiley's troops, ranked No. 8 in the nation, will square off against the ninth-ranked Florida Gators in the first round, which takes place Thursday, Feb. 15, at 10 p.m. CST.
The National Indoors is a 16-team affair, comprised of the top team in each of the eight regions across the United States, as well as eight at-large teams, chosen by a committee based on their rankings and performances this year. The Illini received their bid after having captured the top spot in the Midwest.
Illinois has fared well in recent years at National Indoors. In 1998 at Louisville, the 15th-ranked Illini stunned No. 2 UCLA, 4-3, to open the tournament. A 4-1 win over No. 12 Pepperdine, and then another shocker, a 4-3 victory over No. 4 Mississippi State, put the Orange and Blue in the title match against top-ranked Stanford. The Cardinal eliminated the Illini, 5-0.
At Seattle in 1999, nobody was overlooking Illinois, which came in ranked No. 5. The Illini dropped No. 12 Tennessee, 4-2, and No. 4 Mississippi, 4-3, in the first two rounds to reach the semis. One of the biggest victories in the history of Illinois tennis was next, a 4-3 decision over No. 1 Stanford, which not only broke the Cardinal's 45-match winning streak, but also put Illinois in the championship match for the second year in a row. Gavin Sontag of Illinois sustained a hip fracture in that match and the Illini succumbed in the title contest the next day. No. 6 UCLA took the championship with a 4-1 win.
Last year, expectations were high as the No. 8 Illini arrived in Louisville. But Stanford exacted revenge on Illinois that day with a 4-3 win. Then, in the consolation bracket, the Ilini got past the defending national champion Georgia before being eliminated by No. 12 Baylor.
This week, should Illinois win in the opening round against Florida, it would face the winner of the No. 1 Stanford-vs-No. 61 Princeton contest.
Illinois is coming off a razor-thin 4-3 loss Sunday at the Atkins Tennis Center to No. 5 Duke, another team it could face in Seattle.
Sontag, Turek Big Winners on the Futures Circuit
Several of the athletes that helped Illinois move into the national collegiate tennis scene have achieved success on the professional level as well. Just this past weekend, Jerry Turek ('97) and Gavin Sontag ('99) reached a major milestone as they won the doubles competition at the T Bar M futures event in Dallas. With the championship, Turek upped his doubles ranking to No. 90 in the world. He's the first former Illinois tennis player to reach the Top 100. Sontag, meanwhile elevated his ranking to No. 260 in the world.
"We're very excited for Gavin and Jerry," said UI Head Coach Craig Tiley. "They have been working very hard for this. And to have this kind of success at the international level is extraordinary, and it has to be very gratifying for them. We couldn't be more proud of them and their accomplishments."
