Illinois wasted no time in staking its claim to a Round 2 berth in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Craig Tiley's 11th-ranked Illini dispatched Murray State, 4-0, in a quick, two-hour tourney opener at the Atkins Tennis Center Saturday morning. The Orange and Blue will take on Mississippi State, who defeated Middle Tennessee, 4-0, this afternoon, in Sunday's Round 2 match.

Junior Mike Kosta and freshman Michael Calkins opened this morning's match with an 8-2 victory at No. 3 doubles over Murray State's Zakaria Bahri and Jordan Yeiser, and minutes later, the second-ranked duo of senior Graydon Oliver and freshman Amer Delic defeated the Racers' Nikola Aracic and Alex Sundsten at No. 1 to give the Fighting Illini the doubles point. The No. 2 doubles match between Illinois' Phil Stolt and Jamal Parker and Murray State's Thiago Gondim was suspended at that point with Parker and Stolt leading, 6-5.

The Illini also made short work of the Racers in singles play. Junior Nathan Zeder eliminated MSU's Yeiser at No. 6. Stolt breezed by Murray State's Sundsten in the No. 3 match, and Delic ended the Racers' season when he beat Gondim, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 2.

"I was happy with the way our team performed," said Tiley. "They did everything we asked them to do in practice this week. "Tomorrow should be a tough match, but if we play like we did today, we should be OK."

The victory moved Illinois' season record to 22-6, Murray Sate bows out at 14-11. The winner of Sunday's match between Illinois and Mississippi State will advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, which runs Saturday-Tuesday, May 19-22 in Athens, Ga.

NCAA Regional Tournament, Round 1, Atkins Tennis Center, Urbana, Ill.:
No. 11 ILLINOIS 4, Murray State 0

SINGLES 1. No. 26 Graydon Oliver (ILL) vs. Nikola Aracic (MSU) suspended 2. Amer Delic (ILL) def. Thiago Gondim (MSU) 6-1, 6-2 3. No. 61 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Alex Sundsten (MSU) 6-1, 6-0 4. Mike Kosta (ILL) vs. Alex Hoyem (MSU) suspended 5. Michael Calkins (ILL) vs. Zakaria Bahri (MSU) suspended 6 Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Jordan Yeiser MSU) 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES 1. No. 2 Amer Delic/Graydon Oliver (ILL) def. Nikola Aracic/Alex Sundsten (MSU) 8-3 2. Jamal Parker/Phil Stolt (ILL) vs. Thiago Gondim/Alex Hoyem (MSU) suspended 3. Mike Kosta/Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Zakaria Bahri/Jordan Yeiser 8-2

NCAA Regional Tournament, Round 1, Atkins Tennis Center, Urbana, Ill.:
No. 17 Mississippi State 4, No. 42 Middle Tennessee 0

SINGLES
1.	Marco Baron (MSU) def. Daniel Klemttz (MT)	        6-1, 6-4
2.	Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) vs. Robert Gustaffson (MT)	suspended
3.	David Ruiz (MSU) def. Oliver Foreman (MT)	        6-0, 6-2
4.	Luiz Carvalho (MSU) vs. Michael Staniak (MT)	        suspended
5.	Jerome LeBelicard (MSU) def. Kirk Jackson (MT)	        6-0, 6-3
6.	Mathieu Soto (MSU) vs. Trevor Short (MT)	        suspended

DOUBLES
1.	Marco Baron/Chris McDonald (MSU) def. Robert Gustafsson/Oliver Foreman (MT)	8-3
2.	Daniel Klemetz/Michael Staniak (MT) def. Luiz Carvalho/Jerome LeBelicard (MSU)	8-3
3.	Rene Charles Combette/Romain Ambert (MSU) def. Trevor Short/Mark Pellerin (MT)	8-3