University of Illinois
MICHIGAN STATE
Illinois Moves To 20-0 With Win Over Spartans
April 12, 2003 | Men's Tennis
April 12, 2003
It was a tired Illinois men's tennis team that ventured onto the courts late this morning to play an outdoor match at the UI Atkins Tennis Center for the first time this season. It was a tired, but victorious team that walked off those same courts this afternoon. The top-ranked Fighting Illini defeated No. 59 Michigan State today, despite competing without two of its starters in the singles lineup. The victory was Illinois' seventh in Big Ten play with three matches (all conference duels) remaining in the regular season.
"I changed the lineup around for a couple of reasons today," said Head Coach Craig Tiley. "First, it was Senior Day, and we wanted to give our lone senior, (seldom-used) Alex Hobson, a chance to play. Also, I wanted to put a little pressure on our guys to step up and perform. Lately they've just been going through the motions, it seems."
Illinois did play fairly well in doubles. Sixteenth-ranked Rajeev Ram and Brian Wilson made short work of MSU's Eric Simonton and Cameron Marshall at No. 1, while Phil Stolt and Chris Martin easily defeated the Spartans' Jimmy McGuire and Adam Hourani. Both scores were 8-3. The Illini scored the doubles point, but Michigan State did manage to win at No. 3. Hobson and Michael Calkins played doubles together for only the second time this season, and they fell to the visitors' Andrew Formanczyk and Chris Mitchell, 8-6.
It was in singles that Illinois' flatness was more apparent. At one point, four of the Illini players were behind in their matches. Case in point: 14th-ranked Ram at No. 1. The freshman phenom found himself down, 5-2, to Formanczyk in the first set, but caught fire and won the last 11 games to take a 7-5, 6-0 victory.
"I could have done a little better job being ready at the beginning," Ram admitted. "But really, I didn't play that badly at the start. My opponent was playing some very good tennis. I just tried to stay with it, and I was finally able to wear him down and put some pressure on him."
Eighth-ranked Brian Wilson and No. 13 Phil Stolt won their matches at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in straight sets. Wilson downed Mitchell, 6-2, 6-1, to take his team-leading victory total to 26 (against four losses), and Stolt dispatched Marshall, 6-3, 6-1.
The lower part of the lineup was a different story. Hobson did manage to take Simonton to three sets at No. 6, but lost, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Freshman Ryler DeHeart came back to beat McGuire, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5, but Chris Martin saw his 14-match winning streak come to an end as he dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Goran Topalu.
"The bottom of our lineup certainly could have played better, said Tiley, but in general, it's hard to fault our players for not being on the top of their game today. We've done a lot of traveling. Tomorrow's match will be our third match in four days and our fifth match in nine days. And the places we went required a lot of flights-through New Orleans, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Columbus. The guys are pretty tired, so we'll try to give them a little time off next week."
Today's win was the 20th in a row for the Orange and Blue this season, against no losses. It ties the 2002-03 Illini with the 1999-2000 UI squad for the longest streak in the program's history. The victory was also Illinois' sixth in a row against Michigan State. The Spartans drop to 21-10 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
The Fighting Illini will face 58th-ranked Michigan tomorrow starting at noon at the Atkins Tennis Center, and Tiley is expected to return juniors Amer Delic (ranked No. 6) and Michael Calkins (ranked No. 122) to the lineup for both doubles and singles. It will be Illinois' final home appearance of the 2003 regular season, although the Illini are likely to host first- and second-round NCAA Tournament matches the weekend of May 9-11.
at No. 1 ILLINOIS 5, No. 59 Michigan State 2
SINGLES: 1. No. 14 Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) 7-5, 6-0 2. No. 8 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. Chris Mitchell (MSU) 6-2, 6-1 3. No. 13 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Cameron Marshall (MSU) 6-3, 6-1 4. Goran Topalu (MSU) def. Chris Martin (ILL) 6-4, 6-4 5. No. 79 Ryler DeHeart ILL) def. Jimmy McGuire (MSU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 6. Eric Simonton (MSU) def. Alex Hobson (ILL) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2DOUBLES: 1. No. 16 Brian Wilson/Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. Eric Simonton/Cameron Marshall (MSU) 8-3 2. Phil Stolt/Chris Martin (ILL) def. Jimmy McGuire/Adam Hourani (MSU) 8-3 3. Andrew Formanczyk/Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Michael Calkins/Alex Hobson (ILL) 8-6
