Feb. 27, 2002
The Illinois men's tennis program reached a milestone this morning when it earned its first-ever No. 1 national ranking. Coach Craig Tiley's Fighting Illini, who are 8-1 on the season, received 600 votes in the weekly Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which were released today.
The Orange and Blue outdistanced No. 2 Georgia (5-1), which had 592 votes, and Stanford (9-1), with 583. Illinois' lone loss was a 4-3 setback vs. the Cardinal Feb. 10 in the title match of the National Indoor Championships. Stanford's loss to then No. 17 California Feb. 23 and Illinois' continued strong play in decisive wins at Michigan and Michigan State last weekend paved the way for the squad's move from No. 2 to No. 1. The Illini beat Georgia, 4-1, in the National Indoors semifinal at Louisville Feb. 9, Illinois will have a rematch with the Bulldogs on their home courts March 22.
Illinois' ascent to the top spot constitutes several firsts:
* The program's first-ever No. 1 national ranking. The Illini have reached No. 2 in 1998, 1999 and 2002
* The first No. 1 ranking for a Big Ten men's tennis team
* The first No. 1 ranking since 1990 for a men's tennis team other than Stanford, USC, UCLA, Georgia, LSU or Tennessee
* The first No. 1 ranking for any Illinois athletic team since 1989, when the men's gymnastics team won the national championship and the men's basketball team earned No. 1 status on its way to the Final Four
"Obviously we're very excited to be one of the few teams that have achieved this accomplishment in the history of college tennis," said Tiley. Although we're letting our players enjoy this today, we need to move on tomorrow, because we need to continue to focus on how these guys can improve their tennis. That improvement is what can enable us to finish where we want to at the end of the year. We're very proud of this accomplishment, our players have worked very hard and deserve this recognition."
"This puts a little icing on the cake, as far as anyone who might have doubted what we have been trying to accomplish at Illinois," said senior Mike Kosta. "Our main goal is still to finish the season with the national championship, and this is just the first step for us to get there."
Tiley was thrust into the role of interim coach in 1992-93, after the departure of former head coach Neil Adams, and led the Illini to a record of 4-23. Since then, the Fighting Illini have made the long climb with records of 13-15, 18-10, 14-10, 18-10, 21-6, 28-4, 25-4 and 22-7. Along the way they produced a 57-match winning streak against conference foes, the longest in the history of the Big Ten, winning the last five league crowns. Tiley and Associate Head Coach Bruce Berque also helped bring Illinois their first national tennis championship in 2000 when Graydon Oliver and Cary Franklin won the NCAA Doubles title. Tiley has produced eight All-Americans while at Illinois (all since 1997), including three in 2000.
The Fighting Illini will have their first opportunity to defend their lofty position in the rankings Sunday when they play at No. 19 Duke. The Blue Devils are 1-6 against a murderous schedule, which has included only teams from the Top 20, four of which were in the top seven when they played them. Duke is led by three ranked players, No. 39 Phillip King, No. 46 Michael Yani and No. 125 Alex Bose. Illinois will counter with a bevy of ranked singles competitors: No. 11 Amer Delic, No. 33 Phil Stolt, No. 43 Brian Wilson, No. 107 Jamal Parker, No. 127 Michael Calkins and No. 130 Nathan Zeder. On the doubles side, Calkins and Delic are ranked as the No. 8 duo in America.
Omni Hotels
Collegiate Tennis Rankings
Feb. 27, 2002
1. ILLINOIS (8-1) 600
2. Georgia (5-1) 592
3. Stanford (9-1) 583
4. Southern Cal (9-2) 578
5. UCLA (11-1) 570
6. Mississippi (5-1) 562
7. Notre Dame (5-3) 550
8. Baylor (7-0) 545
9. Kentucky (7-2) 530
Pepperdine (9-2) 530
For more information on the rankings, log on to the ITA website at www.itatennis.com.
