University of Illinois
MIAMI (Fla.)
Fighting Illini Blow Hurricanes Away
March 2, 2003 | Men's Tennis
March 2, 2003
The Illini men's tennis team reached another milestone this afternoon-picking up its first victory as the nation's No. 1 team. (The Orange and Blue held the nation's No. 1 spot last season for just one week and was then defeated at Duke.) Coach Craig Tiley's squad blanked No. 32 Miami (Fla.), 7-0, at the Atkins Tennis Center. It was Illinois' seventh shutout of the season; the team boosted its record to 11-0 in the process.
"Our team learned its lesson last year when Duke beat us just after we earned the No. 1 ranking," said Tiley. "The guys were a lot more focused this time around, yet I still wasn't satisfied with the energy we showed at the start of the match."
That was apparent, as second-ranked Amer Delic and Michael Calkins dropped their fifth match of the season, a 9-8 (4) upset to unranked Colin Purcell and Andrew Golub in the No. 1 contest. Illinois' No. 2 and 3 duos, however, kept the UI shutout hopes alive with 8-2 and 8-3 victories, respectively. Junior Brian Wilson was given the day off to rest his sore shoulder, so Chris Martin teamed with Rajeev Ram at No. 2; 52nd-ranked Phil Stolt and Ryler DeHeart picked up the win at No. 3.
Things went smoother for the Fighting Illini in singles play, even though Delic and Wilson, frequently Illinois' No. 1 and No. 3 starters, remained on the bench. Only one match went to three sets. DeHeart, ranked No. 60, got past Purcell, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, for his team-leading 20th singles victory this season. In the other five matches, none of the Hurricanes won as many as four games in a set. Ram, ranked No. 22, stepped up to the No. 1 match and reeled off an impressive 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 18 Todd Widom. The win was Ram's 10th since joining the UI team last month-he is 10-0 as a collegian. Stolt, the second-ranked singles player in the nation, breezed past Golub, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2; No. 56 Calkins had no trouble with Luis Manrique (6-3, 6-2); Martin won his seventh match in a row, 6-2, 6-2, over Eric Hechtman at No. 4; and freshman Pramod Dabir stepped into the lineup at No. 6, and promptly won his team-leading 14th consecutive match-a 6-3, 6-3 upset over No. 86 John Hoyes.
"I felt good about my match today. It was good to get out there and play," said Dabir. "I just went out and tried to improve my game, just like I do every time I get on the court. Playing against my teammates in practice, as good as they are, really helps me to get better."
The Fighting Illini get back to Big Ten action later this week. Wisconsin comes to the Atkins Tennis Center Friday for a 4 o'clock match, and Northwestern will roll into town Saturday for a contest at 6 p.m.
"This will be a very important week of practice for us," said Tiley. "Even though I believe we are a better team than either of our opponents, we need to concentrate on a number of little things that will make us a stronger team. We need more consistency from our players, not just physically, but in terms of attitude and energy level. We have a different challenge, now that we're ranked No. 1 in the country, a challenge that we're striving to meet each day."
At No. 1 Illinois 7, No. 32 Miami (Fla.) 0
SINGLES 1. No. 22 Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. No. 18 Todd Widom (UM) 6-2, 6-3 2. No. 2 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Andrew Golub (UM) 6-3, 6-1 3. No. 56 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Luis Manrique (UM) 6-3, 6-2 4. Chris Martin (ILL) def. Eric Hechtman (UM) 6-2, 6-2 5. No. 60 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. Colin Purcell (UM) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 6. Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. No. 86 John Hoyes (UM) 6-3, 6-3DOUBLES 1. Colin Purcell/Andrew Golub (UM) def. No. 2 Michael Calkins/Amer Delic (ILL) 9-8 (4) 2. Rajeev Ram/Chris Martin (ILL) def. John Hoyes/Luis Manrique (UM) 8-2 3. No. 52 Ryler DeHeart/Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Eric Hechtman/Todd Widom (UM) 8-3
