April 28, 2001

The University of Illinois men's tennis team romped to a 4-0 victory over Minnesota today in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at Madison, Wis. Illinois won the doubles point and captured three singles wins to clinch a berth in tomorrow's championship match against the winner of today's second semifinal between Northwestern and Ohio State.

Following the team's focus on intensity, the Illini doubles tandems came out firing on all cylinders. Junior Mike Kosta and freshman Michael Calkins paired up at No. 3 doubles to take an 8-5 win over Chris Wettengel and Eric Robertson. The nation's second-ranked doubles duo of senior Graydon Oliver and freshman Amer Delic disposed of Harsh Mankad and Jorge Duenas, 8-4, at No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point.

After winning the doubles point, Illinois needed three singles wins to advance to tomorrow's championship match. Junior Nathan Zeder led the pack, downing Tyson Parry, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6. Amer Delic finished soon after, defeating Minnesota's Jorge Duenas, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2. Phil Stolt clinched the match for the Illini when he beat Jon Svensson 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3. All other Orange and Blue squad members had won the first set when Stolt clinched.

When asked how it felt to be in a position to win a fifth consecutive Big Ten title, Delic replied, "It feels great. I can't describe it. You had better ask me tomorrow. We've been trying to increase our intensity more and more every day. Yesterday (in the quarterfinal match against Indiana) it was good, today it was better, and tomorrow will be even better than today. Hopefully, our highest level of intensity will be at the championship match at NCAA's."

"I'm pretty happy with today," said Associate Head Coach Bruce Berque. "I asked them to go in today and take it to another level of competitiveness. We want to feed off of each other as a team. Our three main goals have been competitiveness, aggressiveness, and team spirit. Tomorrow will be a good match against a good team. We'll raise our levels tomorrow."

Illinois has beaten both of its potential championship match opponents during the regular season. The Orange and Blue is now 21-5 on the year and 12-0 in the Big Ten. The Illini have also extended their conference winning streak to 57 matches. Results can be followed on www.fightingillini.com, or www.bigten.org.

Big Ten Tournament Semifinal: No. 9 Illinois 4, No. 50 Minnesota 0

SINGLES:
1. No. 24 Graydon Oliver (ILL) vs. No. 45 Harsh Mankad (MINN)	suspended
2. Amer Delic (ILL) def. Jorge Duenas (MINN)	                6-4, 6-4
3.No. 54 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Jon Svensson (MINN)	        6-2, 6-3
4. Mike Kosta (ILL) vs. Alekesiy Zharinov (MINN)	        suspended
5. Michael Calkins (ILL) v. Chris Wettengel (MINN)	        suspended
6. Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Tyson Parry (MINN)	                6-3, 6-1

DOUBLES:
1. No. 2 Graydon Oliver/Amer Delic (ILL) def. No. 24 Harsh Mankad/Jorge Duenas (MINN) 8-4
2. Phil Stolt/Jamal Parker (ILL) vs. Jon Svensson/Tyson Parry (MINN)	              suspended
3. Mike Kosta/Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Chris Wettengel/Eric Robertson (MINN)	      8-5