May 16, 2004

The No. 1-ranked Illinois men's tennis team advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 victory over No. 34 Arizona State on its home courts this afternoon. The win extends the program's NCAA record win streak to 62 matches and moves the Illini season record to 30-0. It's just the second time in the history of UI tennis that the team has won 30 or more matches in a season. Last year's squad made history by going 32-0 and winning its first NCAA title. This is the third consecutive season that the Orange and Blue has advanced to the Sweet 16; the Illini are 4-0 in the Round of 16 since 1999. Today's victory also boosted Illinois' record to 11-1 in NCAA Round 1 and 2 matches that it has hosted the last six years.

"I'm very excited about several things," said Tiley after the win today, "how we were able to step up in singles like we did, and also to come back and win the doubles like we did, is great. We need those close matches."

The match began with tight doubles competition, the point for which was decided in the third match to finish. The Illini duo of Chris Martin and Michael Calkins earned the team's first victory after thumping Daniel Davies and Clint Letcher in the No. 2 contest, 8-4, and improving their season record to 23-5 in the process. The No. 3 tandem of Ryler DeHeart and GD Jones (16-1) suffered their first doubles loss together this season when they fell to Chris Biro and Ryan McBride, 8-5, to even up the doubles at a match apiece. The doubles point, which Illinois has only lost three times all season, then rested on the results at No. 1. Brian Wilson and Phil Stolt (20-4), ranked fifth nationally, went back and forth with ASU's 40th-ranked Jonathan Kinsella and Chris Stewart most of the match until the score was tied at six games apiece. The 13th game turned out to be the lucky one for Illinois; the UI duo broke serve to pull ahead, 7-6, and then held Stolt's serve to win the match, 8-6, and give Illinois a 1-0 lead.

"The doubles point was very crucial today," said Stolt. "The last couple of points, we turned it around and won the point. Going into singles, that is a huge boost against a good team like Arizona State, because I think they let down a little bit after the doubles point."

The three Illinois seniors' farewell performances at the UI Atkins Tennis Center were most appropriate. In their final college matches at Atkins, Wilson, Calkins and Stolt contributed victories that put the Fighting Illini over the top.in today's contest. Calkins started off the singles scoring with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kinsella at No. 4. The win was his team-high 30th win on the year. Calkins, the winningest player in the history of the program, has won 30 or more singles matches in each of his four seasons with the Illini. Top-ranked Wilson (21-3) increased the lead to 3-0 after beating Stewart, 6-3, 6-3. The match couldn't have ended in better fashion as the third senior, Stolt, ranked No. 51, won, 6-2, 6-4, over Letcher. The triumph was the 100th career singles victory for Stolt, putting him in the No. 9 spot on the UI career singles victory list in the record books. Heading into this Saturday's match, the three seniors have accumulated 544 combined singles and doubles victories in their tenure at Illinois.

"It's a great feeling, especially for me, to have played well today and to leave this place on a good note heading into Tulsa," said Calkins.

The Illinois squad will leave Tuesday morning for Tulsa, site of the final four rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Round of 16 action will begin Saturday; the times of the matches will be announced tomorrow. The top-seeded Orange and Blue will face 16th-seeded Harvard, 4-2 winner today in Cambridge, Mass., over Tulane.

"We're getting better as the year goes on," said Tiley. "If we come out on the first day firing on all cylinders, we're going to be a tough team to beat."

For complete NCAA bracket information please visit www.ncaasports.com on the world wide web.

Today's NCAA Tournament Round 2 Results:
at No. 1 Illinois 4, No. 34 Arizona State 0

Doubles:
1. #5 Phil Stolt/Brian Wilson (ILL) def. #40 Jonathan Kinsella/Chris Stewart (ASU)   8-6
2. Michael Calkins/Chris Martin (ILL) def. Daniel Davies/Clint Letcher (ASU)         8-4
3. Chris Biro/Ryan McBride (ASU) def. Ryler DeHeart/GD Jones (ILL)                   8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles
1.#1 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. Chris Stewart (ASU)       6-3, 6-3
2.#51 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Clint Letcher (ASU)        6-2, 6-4
3.#121 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) vs. Chris Biro (ASU)        6-4, abandoned at ILL 5-5
4.Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Jonathan Kinsella (ASU)   6-1, 6-1
5.#95 Chris Martin (ILL) vs. Ryan McBride (ASU)        6-4, abandoned at ILL 5-3
6. GD Jones (ILL) vs. Daniel Davies (ASU)              7-6 (2), abandoned at ILL 1-0
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2