Feb. 1, 2003
The Illini men's tennis team passed its first major test of the season tonight at the Atkins Tennis Center. Coach Craig Tiley's second-ranked Illinois squad shut out fifth-ranked Florida, 7-0, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of more than 400 fans, serving notice that the Orange and Blue will be one of the favorites at the National Indoor Championships in Louisville Feb. 20-23.
"I was very pleased with the way our players competed tonight," said a beaming Tiley. "But, at the same time, the score was not indicative of just how close the match was. Florida is a very good team, and they played very hard. We did have control of the No. 5 and 6 matches, but three of the top four matches went three sets, and Phil's (Stolt) match went 7-5, 7-5. And in doubles, Amer and Michael won a tie-breaker."
Amer Delic and Michael Calkins, the second-ranked doubles tandem in the country, took an 9-8 (5) decision over Florida's Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris McDonald in the No. 1 match to give the Illini a sweep. Earlier, Brian Wilson and Rajeev Ram downed No. 13 Troy Hahn and Matt Behrmann, 8-3, at No. 2, and Phil Stolt and Ryler DeHeart were 8-5 winners in the No. 3 contest against No. 37 Eleazar Magallan and Oliver Levant.
"Amer and Michael are ranked No. 2, and even though they've been winning, they've had some very close matches. Brian and Rajeev may very well be the top doubles team in the nation right now. They've been playing incredibly well," said Tiley.
No. 42 Calkins and No. 84 DeHeart won straight-set victories over No. 78 Magallan and No. 117 Behrmann at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, givng the Fighting Illini a 3-0 lead. Stolt's triumph at No. 3 was also a straight-setter, but took a little longer. He squeezed past Troy Hahn, 7-5, 7-5, to clinch the match for the hosts. Had this been a tournament match where competition ceases when a team clinches the win, it would have been a three-hour affair. Since it was a regular-season contest, it was played out to its conclusion. One hour later, the 20th-ranked Wilson staved off Holmia, the No. 29 singles player in the nation, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, to seal the shutout. Ram and Delic survived first-set losses at No. 4 and No. 2 to keep the Gators at bay. Delic outlasted Mirzadeh, the Gators' ace, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), minutes after Ram won his second match in a row over a Top-100 player; 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 was the count against the No. 68 Levant.
"We wanted Rajeev to play against a ranked opponent, and we wanted him to play against a lefty like Levant, if we could," said Tiley. "We thought (Florida Coach) Andy (Jackson) might put him at No. 4, so that's where we placed Rajeev. We're very fortunate that our top players are nearly equal in ability. That gives us the advantage of using them almost interchangeably at different spots in our lineup. We're pretty tough to scout, and that poses problems for our opponents. We're a very good team right now, but if we continue to play like we did tonight, we could be a great team."
"I wasn't really recruited by Florida," said Delic, "even though I lived pretty close to Gainesville. They had a different coach then, but still, it was fun to beat them. I know a lot of their players."
"It was interesting playing against the guys from Florida," said DeHeart, the freshman from the Sunshine State who won his team-high 17th singles victory. "I know just about all of them, but I really didn't know what to expect tonight. Phil and I played well in doubles, especially Phil. And in singles-after being the only player on our team to lose on Wednesday at Notre Dame-I was down, and I wanted to come back. I played No. 3 the last two matches, and No. 6 tonight. It doesn't matter where, it's just an honor to be playing on this team."
Illinois' schedule remains challenging. The team hosts a pair of ranked teams next weekend, No. 10 Duke on Friday evening, and No. 20 Georgia Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9. The Illini open the Big Ten season Feb. 14 when the Iowa Hawkeyes come to town. Then it's off to Louisville for National Indoors.
at No. 2 ILLINOIS 7, No. 5 Florida 0
SINGLES:
1. No. 2 Amer Delic (ILL) def. Hamid Mirzadeh (FLA) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
2. No. 20 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. No. 29 Janne Holmia (FLA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
3. No. 6 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Troy Hahn (FLA) 7-5, 7-5*
4. Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. No. 68 Olivier Levant (FLA) 6-7, 6-2, 6-3
5. No. 42 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. No. 78 Eleazar Magallan (FLA) 6-3, 6-4
6. No. 84 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. No. 117 Matt Behrmann (FLA) 7-5, 6-1
DOUBLES:
1. No. 2 Michael Calkins/Amer Delic (ILL) def. Chris McDonald/Hamid Mirzadeh (FLA) 9-8 (5)
2. Brian Wilson/Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. No. 13 Troy Hahn/Matt Behrmann (FLA) 8-3
3. Phil Stolt (ILL)/Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. No. 37 Eleazar Magallan/Olivier Levant (FLA) 8-5
* match-clinching victory
