April 27, 2001

The University of Illinois men's tennis team did what was expected of it today, downing Indiana, 4-2 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at Madison, Wis. Illinois won the doubles point and three singles matches to gain the necessary four points to win the match and advance to the conference semifinals.

The ninth-ranked Illini started strong, winning two of the doubles matches. The No. 2 tandem of senior Graydon Oliver and freshman Amer Delic defeated Indiana's Rahman Smiley and Ricardo Jordan, 8-4, at the No. 1 spot. At No. 2, freshman Phil Stolt and his partner, junior Jamal Parker, faltered, falling 8-2 to Ian Arons and Milan Rakvica. But freshman Michael Calkins and junior Mike Kosta stepped it up at No. 3, downing Zach Held and Paul Jacobson, 8-6, to clinch the doubles point.

After gaining the doubles point, Illinois needed to win just three singles points to clinch the match. Delic, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last night at the championship banquet, did his part quickly, defeating Arons, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 2 position. Oliver dropped a tough 6-4, 6-0 decision to Rakvica at No. 1, but junior Nathan Zeder topped Indiana's Bernard Tsepelman, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 6 to put Illinois up, 3-1. Stolt dropped a 6-3, 6-3 match to Smiley at No. 3, but soon after, Calkins clinched the match with his 6-2, 7-5 win over Zach Held at No. 6.

"We came out stong in both doubles and singles," said Zeder. "We were aggressive today from start to finish. Tomorrow will be tough, but we are definitely looking forward to the challenge."

"Overall I think we played well," said Associate Head Coach Bruce Berque, who is guiding the team while Head Coach Craig Tiley is with the South African Team in Davis Cup competition. "Our guys played with energy, and our competitiveness was great. Our No. 1 priority this weekend was to play with more high intensity and hunger than the guy on the other side of the net. We want to make sure that we're the hungriest dogs, because the hungriest dog hunts best."

Tomorrow, in the semifinals, Illinois will face the winner of this afternoon's Michigan-Minnesota match. Illinois is now 20-5 on the year, and 11-0 in the Big Ten. Tomorrow's match will begin at 10 a.m.

Big Ten Quarterfinal: No. 9 Illinois 4, No. 39 Indiana 2

1. No. 95 Milan Rakvica (IND) def. No. 24 Graydon Oliver   6-4, 6-0
2. Amer Delic (ILL) def. Ian Arons (IND)		   6-3, 6-0
3. Rahman Smiley (IND) def. No. 54 Phil Stolt (ILL)	   6-3, 6-3
4. Mike Kosta (ILL) vs. Paul Jacobson (IND)		   suspended
5. Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Zach Held (IND)		   6-2, 7-5
6. Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Bernard Tsepelman (IND)	   6-2, 6-1

1. No. 2 Graydon Oliver/Amer Delic (ILL) def. Rahman Smiley/Ricardo Jordan (IND)   8-4
2. Phil Stolt/Jamal Parker (ILL) def. Ian Arons/Milan Rakvica (IND)		   8-2
3. Michael Calkins/Mike Kosta (ILL) def. Zach Held/Paul Jacobson (IND)		   8-6