University of Illinois
USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships
Illinois To Face Florida For National Championship
February 22, 2003 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 22, 2003
Illinois is on the brink of its first-ever national team tennis championship, thanks to a stunning 4-0 victory over third-ranked and third-seeded Baylor in the semifinal of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Indoor Championship Tournament in Louisville, Ky. Thanks to sixth-seeded and sixth-ranked Florida's 4-1 upset of No. 1 seed UCLA, the Fighting Illini, ranked and seeded No. 2, won't get a crack at the top-ranked Bruins, at least until the NCAA Tournament in May.
The Illini, 9-0 on the season, have outscored their opponents, 51-3, in dual matches. They will be favored against Florida, on the strength of their 7-0 victory over the Gators Feb. 1 at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign. This is Illinois' fourth trip to the final since 1998; Coach Craig Tiley's teams lost in the 1998 (5-0 to Stanford), 1999 (4-1 to UCLA) and 2002 (4-3 to Stanford) championship matches. He has every reason to believe that the Fighting Illini can bring home their first-ever national team tennis championship trophy tomorrow.
"I would think that our experience in championship matches would be a help. Those are the intangibles that you can't control," said Tiley. "We've played in four of the last six finals in this event, but we haven't won it yet. We played really well against Florida at our place earlier this month, and I don't think they played as well as they can. They're certainly playing well now, so I predict that it will be a very tight match tomorrow."
The Fighting Illini put the pressure on the Bears early in the match this afternoon when junior Brian Wilson and freshman Rajeev Ram outlasted Benedikt Rorsch and Reiner Neurhor, 9-7, in the No. 2 doubles match. Baylor came right back, however, when Matias Marin and Ivor Lovrak picked up the victory, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles over UI freshman Ryler DeHeart and junior Phil Stolt. Illinois finally scored when second-ranked Michael Calkins and Amer Delic won a 9-8 (5) nailbiter over 48th-ranked Benjamin Becker and Zoltan Papp in the No. 1 match.
"We got lucky to win the doubles point," said an ecstatic Tiley. "They (Baylor) played very well in doubles, but our players got through it."
A torrid Calkins got Illinois off to a flying start in singles, winning his seventh match in a row, this one, a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Neurohr. Ram followed up Calkins' win with an impressive performance of his own. His 6-2, 6-3 triumph over No. 66 Matias Marin was his eighth in as many matches as an Illini; it was his sixth victory over a ranked opponent. Ram's victory gave the Illini a 3-0 lead and set the stage for Stolt's heroics. The tall junior came through with the match-clinching win, 6-3, 7-6 (3) over Baylor's 22nd-ranked Papp.
"Baylor is much more experienced that we are." said Tiley, "If you look at our average age (20.5 yrs.) vs. theirs (21.9 yrs.), they are definitely older. But our guys were very hungry and very focused. They wanted to prove some things. I'm very proud of their effort and that we had a chance to win every match tonight."
The ITA National Indoors can be followed on the web at www.itatennis.com and at www.fightingillini.com.
No. 2 ILLINOIS 4, No. 3 Baylor 0
SINGLES: 1. No. 2 Amer Delic (ILL) vs. No. 23 Benjamin Becker (BAY) DNF 2. No. 20 Brian Wilson (ILL) vs. No. 1 Benedikt Dorsch (BAY) DNF 3. Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. No. 66 Matias Marin (BAY) 6-2, 6-3 4. No. 6 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. No. 22 Zoltan Papp (BAY) 6-3, 7-6 (3) 5. No. 42 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Reiner Neurohr (BAY) 6-2, 6-4 6. No. 84 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) vs. Ivor Lovrak (BAY) DNFDOUBLES: 1. No. 2 Amer Delic/Michael Calkins (ILL) def. No. 48 Benjamin Becker/Zoltan Papp) BAY) 9-8 (5) 2. Brian Wilson/Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. Benedikt Dorsch/Reiner Neurhoh (BAY) 9-7 3. Matias Marin/Ivor Lovrak (BAY) def. Phil Stolt/Ryler DeHeart (ILL) 8-5
