April 14, 2001
Champaign, IL--The 10th ranked University of Illinois men's tennis team downed No. 51 Wisconsin today in Big Ten action. The Orange and Blue won two doubles matches and swept the singles on the way to its 52nd consecutive conference victory.
At No. 3 doubles the junior tandem of Mike Kosta and Nathan Zeder blanked Wisconsin's Dustin Friedman and Dustin Taylor 8-0. Freshman Michael Calkins paired with junior Jamal Parker at No. 2 doubles to down Danny Westerman and Jason Gonzaga 8-5 to clinch the doubles point. The No. 1 ranked Illinois duo of senior Graydon Oliver and freshman Amer Delic fell 8-6 to Scott Rutherford and Scott Green at the No. 1 position.
"Craig placed emphasis on everyone coming out today with great focus because there were so many other things going on," said Calkins. "I think that everyone did a really good job, especially in singles. We got off to a little bit of a slow start in the doubles but we finished strong."
In singles the Illini rolled to straight-set victories at every position. Calkins was first off the court with his 6-1, 6-1 victory over Scott Green at No. 5, and Delic followed, posting a 7-6(5), 6-3 score over Wisconsin's Dustin Taylor at No. 3. Kosta clinched the match when he downed Scott Rutherford 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4, and Oliver finished shortly thereafter, winning 6-4, 6-4 over Danny Westerman at No. 1. Freshman Phil Stolt gained a 7-5, 6-3 win over Dustin Friedman at No. 2, and Zeder completed the singles sweep with his 6-4, 7-5 decision over Justin Baker at No. 6.
"If you look at the score you'd think that we played well," said Illinois Head Coach Craig Tiley. "I wasn't particularly happy with some of the performances in doubles and I didn't think that we, overall, did a good job with our execution in singles. But we're fortunate that we have guys that are able to still get the job done. We're going to have to play much better tomorrow (against Minnesota). They want to break our streak. I think that we'll come out tomorrow and play with good, aggressive energy."
Illinois now moves to 16-5 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten. Tomorrow's noon match against No. 44 Minnesota concludes the home schedule for the Illini, who will travel to Ohio State and Penn State next weekend before making the trip to Madison, WI on April 26 for the Big Ten Championships. Results can be followed on www.fightingillini.com
TODAY'S RESULTS
SINGLES:
1. Graydon Oliver (ILL) def. Danny Westerman (WI) 6-4, 6-4
2. Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Dustin Friedman (WI) 7-5, 6-3
3. Amer Delic (ILL) def. Dustin Taylor (WI) 7-6(5), 6-3
4. Mike Kosta (ILL) def. Scott Rutherford (WI) 6-2, 6-4
5. Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Scott Green (WI) 6-1, 6-1
6. Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Justin Baker (WI) 6-4, 7-5
DOUBLES:
1. Oliver/Delic (ILL) lost to Rutherford/Green (WI) 8-6
2. Calkins/Parker (ILL) def. Westerman/Gonzaga (WI) 8-5
3. Zeder/Kosta (ILL) def. Friedman/Taylor (WI) 8-0
