Nov. 6, 2004
The Fighting Illini men's tennis team took their act to the west coast to participate at the UNLV Fall Classic, in Las Vegas, Nevada and once again displayed a dominating performance. Freshmen Ruben Gonzales and Andrew Eklov each won two matches at the event to advance to tomorrow's singles semifinal. Evan Zeder joined the two and went 1-1 on the day.
"They played great today," said Illinois student assistant Michael Calkins. "Ruben (Gonzales) was extremely excited to play since it was his first tournament and he played great. They are all taking what we are working on in practice and incorporating it into their matches, which is very encouraging to see."
Gonzales began his collegiate career perfectly with a first set 6-0 shutout against UNLV's Romain Massaro in Flight One action. The Terre Haute native, finished Massaro off with a 6-2 second set and then dominated Kiril Tcherveniachki of Texas 6-3, 6-2 in quarterfinal action.
Zeder toppled Texas' Ben Rogers 6-1, 6-3 in the Flight One first round, but in his second match against the top seed at the event and 67th ranked Aviram Salomon (UNLV), he defaulted with the score notched at 4-4 in the third after splitting the first two sets 6-7, 6-4. In Flight Two action Andrew Eklov survived two three set thrilling matches to stay alive. In his morning match he beat Portland's Scott Kennel 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 and finished his day with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Fresno State's Sergiu Modoc. After today's action Eklov improves to 6-5, while Zeder fell to 5-8 on the season.
The trio will continue play at the Fall Classic tomorrow. For complete tournament information please visit www.unlvrebels.com.
Results
Evan Zeder (ILL) def. Ben Rogers (UT) 6-1, 6-3
#67 Aviram Salomon (UNLV) def. Evan Zeder (ILL) 6-3, 3-6 4-4 (default)
Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV) 6-0, 6-2
Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Kiril Tcherveniachki (UT) 6-3, 6-2
Andrew Eklov (ILL) def. Scott Kennel (UP) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
Andrew Eklov (ILL) def. Sergiu Modoc (FS) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
