University of Illinois
GEORGIA
Illini Shut Out 27th-Ranked Georgia
February 11, 2003 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2003
What was expected to be a stern test for the Fighting Illini men's tennis team this weekend didn't turn out that way. Illinois extended its record to 5-0 Sunday with a 7-0 shutout victory over 2002 NCAA runner-up Georgia at the UI Atkins Tennis Center. The shutout was Illinois' second of the young season.
The Fighting Illini got on the scoreboard when Phil Stolt and Ryler DeHeart broke a 5-5 tie in the No. 3 doubles contest, winning the last three games to take an 8-5 victory over Strahinga Bobusic and Jason Varela. The Illini needed that win to score the doubles point because they split the Nos. 1 and 2 matches with the Bulldogs. Second-ranked Michael Calkins and Amer Delic defeated Stephan Timu and Raian Luchici, 8-3 in the No. 2 contest, but Brian Wilson and Rajeev Ram faltered, losing, 8-2, to 43rd-ranked Bo Hodge and Nic Boeker. It was the second doubles loss in a row for Ram and Wilson; Illinois is now 13-2 in doubles competition since the beginning of the dual-match season.
"I was very disappointed with our start today," said UI Head Coach Craig Tiley. "Our performance in doubles was not good. The effort was not there; we needed more fire and energy, and I made that very clear to our team before singles. I reminded our players that they need to be more mature from a competitive standpoint, that they need to come out and play hard every time."
Those Illini players that survived the ensuing lineup change seemed to take Tiley's words to heart. Delic and DeHeart, who were originally penciled in at the No. 4 and 6 spots, were lifted in favor of Chris Martin and Pramod Dabir (who played at No. 6). It was Dabir that put the frosting on the cake, preserving the shutout with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Varela in the only three-set match of the afternoon. And it was Martin's match at No. 5 that proved to be the clincher for Illinois. The sophomore moved his dual-match singles record to 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the Bulldogs' Bobusic. In other singles action, Ram remained perfect in singles (5-0) with an impressive 6-1, 6-4 win over 25th-ranked Bo Hodge in the No. 1 match; Stolt, ranked No. 6, won an aborted match with No. 35 Nic Boeker, who retired due to an injury. Stolt was down, 4-3 in the first set of the match at No. 2, but came back to win it, 6-4. Boeker did not go onto the court for the second set. In the No. 3 match, the No. 20 Wilson won easily in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, over Timu. But the most exciting of the matches came at No. 4, where Calkins, ranked No. 42, came back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to beat Ludhici, 6-2, 7-6 (6). Calkins also had a dramatic comeback in the tiebreaker, fighting off four set points and to win, 8-6.
"In the second set, I made a few mistakes early and fell behind," said Calkins, "but I started playing point-by-point, trying to put pressure on my opponent, who is a freshman. I didn't really worry about the score, I just tried to execute each point. I didn't do anything special."
The Fighting Illini continue their four-match home stand Friday afternoon, Feb. 14, when they face Iowa in the Big Ten opener. They'll then hit the road for the National Indoor Championships in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 20-23.
"We cannot look ahead to Indoor Nationals," said Tiley. "We're excited to be starting the Big Ten season, and we're happy to have one more match here before we go to Louisville. I'm very pleased with our record and our performances against some very good teams thus far, but we can't afford to overlook anyone. We still have a lot of work to do."
At No. 2 Illinois 7, No. 27 Georgia 0
SINGLES 1. Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. No. 25 Bo Hodge (GA) 6-1, 6-4 2. No. 6 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. No. 35 Nic Boeker (GA) 6-4 (ret.) 3. No 20 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. Stephan Timu (GA) 6-2, 6-2 4. No. 42 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Raian Luchici (GA) 6-2, 7-6 (6) 5. Chris Martin (ILL) def. Strahinja Bobusic (GA) 6-4, 6-2 * 6. Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Jason Varela (GA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4DOUBLES 1. No. 43 Bo Hodge/Nic Boeker (GA) def. Brian Wilson/Rajeev Ram (ILL) 8-2 2. No. 2 Amer Delic/Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Stephan Timu/Raian Luchici (GA) 8-3 3. Ryler DeHeart/Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Strahinja Bobusic/Jason Varela (GA) 8-5
* match-deciding victory
