March 24, 2001
The Illinois men's tennis team played an extremely tough non-conference schedule this season, and as the Big Ten Conference portion of the itinerary heats up, Coach Craig Tiley thinks it's been worth it. His club returned home to the Atkins Tennis Center for the first time since a narrow loss to Duke Feb. 11 and blanked the 55th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 7-0.
The top player for the Orange and Blue, Graydon Oliver, had experienced back spasms on Thursday, so Tiley held him out of doubles competition today. Despite using a revamped doubles lineup, the Fighting Illini took control early. The most interesting outcome was an 8-2 verdict by a pair of UI freshmen, Amer Delic and Phil Stolt, who normally don't play together, over Michigan's Dan McCain and Greg Novak. The Illini then clinched the doubles point when junior Jamal Parker and freshman Michael Calkins moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 and took care of business with an 8-5 decision over Chris Shaya and Henry Beam. Juniors Mike Kosta and Nathan Zeder completed the UI doubles sweep with a 9-8 (7-2) triumph at the No. 3 spot.
The Orange and Blue dominated singles play as well. Michigan managed to win just one set all afternoon long. McCain wonthe second set of Amer Delic's 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory at No. 3. Of 13 total singles sets, the Wolverines took four or more games in just five.
"Our team played very well, said Tiley. "I believe our difficult non-conference schedule prepared us well for Big Ten play. Our goal was to take care of business in every set today, and we did. I was very pleased when, although we had to remove our best doubles player from the lineup, all of our other guys stepped up and did a good job. The change in the lineup may have served as a spark for our team."
"I love beating Michigan," said Kosta, who hails from Ann Arbor, Mich. "Depending on how we do against them, I do hear about it. I always consider it a key match when we play the Wolverines."
The Fighting Illini (9-5, 2-0) take on Michigan State in another Big Ten match tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Atkins Tennis Center.
Today's Illinois results:
SINGLES
1. No. 28 Graydon Oliver (ILL) def. No. 63 Henry Beam (MICH) 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 52 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Ben Cox (MICH) 6-3, 6-1
3. Amer Delic (ILL) def. Dan McCain (MICH) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4. Mike Kosta (ILL) def. Greg Novak (MICH) 6-2, 6-4
5. Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Anthony Jackson (MICH) 6-4, 6-2
6. Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Brett Baudinet (MICH) 6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. Michael Calkins/Jamal Parker (ILL) def. Henry Beam/Chris Shaya (MICH) 8-5
2. Amer Delic/Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Dan McCain/Greg Novak (MICH) 8-2
3. Nathan Zeder/Mike Kosta (ILL) def. Ben Cox/Anthony Jackson (MICH) 9-8 (7-2)
