March 24, 2005

Los Angeles, Calif. - The No. 2 Fighting Illini had all they could handle on Wednesday night, but managed to slip past the No. 9 USC Trojans with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory. The match was originally supposed to be played on Tuesday, but was moved due to rainy conditions. This is only the second win for Illinois over the Trojans all-time. The win improves the Illini to 12-1 on the season.

"This was a very loud and tough environment to play in tonight," Illinois head coach Craig Tiley said. "I am very proud of the effort tonight. We were basically down the entire match, but the guys continued to show great competiveness and fight to pull it out. I would have to say this was one of the best team efforts I have ever been a part of at Illinois."

In doubles, the Illini brought the same lineup to the table that was so successful last week against Notre Dame, however tonight came with a different result. The Orange and Blue dropped to two of three matches to give USC the doubles point. The only winners of the evening for the Illini in doubles was Kevin Anderson and Pramod Dabir, who defeated the only ranked pair for USC No. 36 Jamil Al-Agba and Johan Berg, 8-6 at No. 2. At No. 1, ninth-ranked Ryler DeHeart and GD Jones couldn't contain Drew Hoskins and Adam Loucks, as the Trojan duo held strong for an 8-6 victory. Chris Martin and Brandon Davis had the same difficulty with Kaes Van't Hof and Jarryd, as they fell 8-4 at No. 3.

After giving up the doubles point, the Illini quickly responded in singles to bring the match even at 1-1 thanks to the sophomore. No. 27 Jones jumped all over No. 62 Hoskins of USC, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Soon the Trojans would respond with a big victory as Al-Agba took down No. 24 Anderson in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. The loss is only the second for Anderson this season as he fell to 14-2.

The Illini would come back with a blow of their own as freshman sensation Ruben Gonzales struck with a 6-3, 6-2 win to even the score at 2-2. It would keep on coming for the Illini, as No. 6 DeHeart pulled out a close three set match against USC's Berg 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (1). Martin in his first singles match since Oct. 23, had it going on as he returned in style sealing the Illini victory with the fourth point, winning 6-3, 6-1 over Brian Wright. Freshman Monte Tucker lost his singles match to Van't Hof 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

"Hopefully this match will give them a lot of confidence the rest of the season," Tiley said. "We have Pepperdine Friday, which is one of the better teams on the west coast, so we will have to be better than we were tonight if we want to win that one."

The Orange and Blue will stay nearby as they travel to Malibu for a match with No. 13 Pepperdine on Friday at 3 p.m. CST.

Illinois 4, USC 3
Results

Singles

No. 28 Jamil Al-Agba (USC) def. No. 24 K. Anderson (ILL)       6-4, 6-3
No. 27 GD Jones (ILL) def. No. 62 Drew Hoskins (USC)           6-2, 6-2
No. 6 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. Johan Berg (USC) 	 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(1)
Kaes Van't Hof (USC) def. Monte Tucker (ILL)		    6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Adam Loucks (USC)                    6-3, 6-2
Chris Martin (ILL) def. Brian Wright (USC)                     6-3, 6-1
Doubles

Hoskins/Loucks (USC) def. No. 9 DeHeart/Jones (ILL)            8-6
Anderson/Dabir (ILL) def. No. 36 Al-Agba/Berg (USC)            8-6
Cooper/Van't Hof (USC) def. Davis/Martin (ILL)                 8-4