March 5, 2005
Bloomington, Ind. - The Fighting Illini received strong performances from its talented freshmen class in a 4-3 victory over No. 50 Indiana. Illinois is now 10-1 (3-0) on the season and captured its 42nd straight Big Ten victory. Illinois' win drops Indiana to 3-7 (0-1) on the year. Today's victory was the 10th straight over the Hoosiers dating back to April 13, 1997.
"Indiana played very well today and fought hard and we expected that," said Illinois head coach Craig Tiley. "I've said all week it wouldn't be an easy win. We played a lot better in doubles today, but we didn't play as well as we could have in some (singles) spots. I'm happy we won and in our next match we will have GD Jones and Chris Martin back and we will know more about Ryan Rowe's injury (injured hand)."
With the injury to Rowe yesterday, the Illini struggled in doubles after shuffling pairs and forcing first time duos. Today the Illini responded and captured all three matches. Pramod Dabir and Ryler DeHeart won Illinois' first match on the afternoon with an 8-6 victory at No. 1 over the duo of Ryan Recht and John Stone. Indiana's 54th-ranked tandem of Jakub Praibis and Dmytro Ishtuganov were out done by freshmen Monte Tucker and Kevin Anderson, 9-8 (4), at No. 2. Brandon Davis and Ruben Gonzales completed the doubles sweep, winning 9-7 at No. 3 over the pair of Michael McCarthy and Dara McLoughlin, 9-7.
After the Intermission, Gonzales put the Illini up 2-1 with a straight set victory. Gonzales improved to 16-3 (3-0), after the 6-3, 6-2 win over Michael McCarthy at No. 5. The talented freshman is perfect in the spring, starting 9-0. Top-ranked DeHeart toppled Ryan Recht at No. 2, 7-5, 6-4. DeHeart is now 27-6 (3-0) on the season and is 3-0 as the No. 1 player in the country.
Tucker sealed the victory, when he put the Illini up 4-2 with a win at No. 4. 78th-ranked Tucker (16-6, 3-0) cruised in the straight set victory over Neil Kenner, 6-3, 6-4. At No. 1, No. 15 Kevin Anderson fell for the first time this season (13-1, 2-1) to Indiana's top player and 100th-ranked Praibis. Praibis outlasted the young freshman in a three set 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 thriller.
Illinois will have a week off until March 17, when they face Notre Dame. After the Notre Dame match, Illinois will visit the state of California for a week and face powers USC, Pepperdine and Stanford.
March 5, 2005 Results
No. 3 Illinois 4, No. 50 Indiana 3
Singles:
1. #100 Jakub Praibis (IU) def. #14 Kevin Anderson (IL), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. #1 Ryler DeHeart (IL) def. Ryan Recht (IU), 7-5, 6-4
3. #78 Monte Tucker (IL) def. Neil Kenner (IU), 6-3, 6-4
4. David Bubenicek (IU) def. Pramod Dabir (IL), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
5. Ruben Gonzales (IL) def. Michael McCarthy (IU), 6-3, 6-2
6. John Stone (IU) def. Evan Zeder (IL), 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: 6,5,3,4,2,1
Doubles:
1. Pramod Dabir/Ryler DeHeart (IL) def. Ryan Recht/John Stone (IU) 8-6
2. Monte Tucker/Kevin Anderson (IL) def. #54 Jakub Praibis/Dmytro Ishtuganov (IU) 9-8 (4)
3. Brandon Davis/Ruben Gonzales (IL) def. Michael McCarthy/Dara McLoughlin (IU) 9-7
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
