May 18, 2002
Tomorrow the Fighting Illini are in a position to do what no Illinois tennis team has ever done-make it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. That's because the third-ranked and third-seeded Illini beat No. 14/14 seed Notre Dame, 4-1, in the Round of 16, played this afternoon in 75-degree temperatures with 15 mph winds at the Texas A&M Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.
Coach Craig Tiley's squad took a relatively unfamiliar approach against a tough team today, getting off to a very strong start. The senior duo of Nathan Zeder and Mike Kosta raced to a 6-0 lead over Luis Haddock and Brent D'Amico, and won decisively, 8-2, at No. 3 doubles. The Fighting Illini clinched the important doubles point moments later when the sophomore pair of Phil Stolt and Brian Wilson closed out the Irish No. 2 doubles team of Aaron Talarico and Ashok Raju, 8-4.
The other doubles match pitted No. 4 Amer Delic and Michael Calkins of Illinois went up against Notre Dame's fifth-ranked Javier Taborga and Casey Smith at No. 1. It was just about as lopsided, as Calkins and Delic held a commanding 7-2 advantage when the duel was discontinued.
Illinois kept the pressure on the Fighting Irish when they moved to singles play. Wilson fought for a 7-6 (4) win in the opening set, but didn't need a tiebreaker in the second. He finished off No. 102 Casey Smith with a breathtaking lob to clinch his 6-1 victory at No. 2. It took Zeder three match points, but he finally dispatched Andrew Laflin, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 6 to make the score 3-0, in favor of the Illini.
Notre Dame fought back when No. 15 Javier Taborga upset 12th-ranked Amer Delic in the No. 1 match, 7-6 (5), 6-4, putting the Irish on the board. But that was their last gasp. UI sophomore Michael Calkins, ranked No. 120, extended his singles winning streak to 14 matches with a hard-fought three-set victory over No. 120 Matt Scott (6-3, 4-6, 6-2). It was Calkins' triumph that put the Illini over the top. The No. 3 and 4 singles matches, with Illinois' Stolt and Kosta, were just entering third sets when Calkins clinched the Illinois victory.
"We started very strong," said Tiley. "We came out very energetic and anxious to play. We've been here since Tuesday night, and we've been waiting all year to come to College Station. Our guys told me two days ago they were bored with practice and they wanted to play. I thought we might be ready too early. But it was good to see them set the tone from the beginning."
The Illinois victory was the second in three meetings this season with Notre Dame, and Tiley was obviously pleased that this one came when it counted most.
"It's fun playing Notre Dame," he said. "They have a classy program, and we always know we'll have a tough match against them. We've been back and forth with them as the top team in the region. We didn't want to play them right away down here, since we wanted to see our region's teams get as far as possible."
The Fighting Illini will attempt to extend their team winning streak to 14 matches tomorrow when they face 11th-seeded Southern Califonia, 4-2 victors today over Baylor, the No. 6 seed.
"We came down here early, in part, to get used to the warmer weather," said Calkins. "We worked extremely hard this week, particularly in doubles, and it really paid off. We feel we're one of the best conditioned teams in the country, so even if it really heats up, we're ready to play four matches in four days. We have a goal."
The Fighting Illini (26-4) and the Trojans (22-5) do battle Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans and media can follow all of the action on www.fightingillini.com and on the Texas A&M website, http://sports.tamu.edu/ncaatennis, which is linked from the Illinois internet site.
Today's Illinois Results:
NCAA Sweet 16: No. 3 ILLINOIS 4, No. 14 Notre Dame 1
Doubles:
1. No. 4 Michael Calkins/Amer Delic (ILL) led No. 5 Javier Taborga/Casey Smith (ND) 7-2 (sus.)
2. Phil Stolt/Brian Wilson (ILL) def. Aaron Talarico/Ashok Raju (ND) 8-4
3. Nathan Zeder/Mike Kosta (ILL) def. Luis Haddock/Brent D'Amico (ND) 8-2
Singles:
4. Mike Kosta (ILL) vs. Luis Haddock (ND) (sus. 6-3, 4-6, 0-0)
5. No. 121 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. No. 120 Matt Scott (ND) [match-clinching win] 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Andrew Laflin (ND) 6-1, 6-4
