April 24, 2005

Iowa City, Iowa - The Illini men's tennis team has done it again. For the eighth consecutive season dating back to 1998 the Orange and Blue are undefeated regular season Big Ten champs after a trouble-free 7-0 victory over Iowa in Iowa City today. The win marks a remarkable stretch that has seen the Illini rattle off 83 consecutive regular season matches against Big Ten opponents going back all the way to 1997. The Orange and Blue also got their 20th win of the season as they moved to 20-3 overall on the season. It's the tenth time in school history that the Illini have hit 20 wins in a season, eight of those have come under head coach Craig Tiley.

"It was nice to see a lot of the guys get a chance to play today," Tiley said. "Winning the Big Ten outright is great, but the way we finished the season today is the most exciting part. I thought we made a strong statement today as we head into the Big Ten Tournament. Playing with a lot energy and seeing the guys have fun today was healthy for us."

The windy conditions in Iowa City had no effect on the Illini, as they controlled the entire match from the opening serve. The Illini got things rolling early as they swept all three doubles matches, gaining the first point of the day. At No. 1 was Pramod Dabir and Ryler DeHeart, who finished opponents Kyle Markham and Brett Taylor in methodical fashion, 8-5. Senior Chris Martin and GD Jones had their way at No. 2 going against Chaitu Malempati and Aaron Schaechterle, winning easily 8-3. The most impressive doubles effort of the day came at No. 3, where senior Evan Zeder paired up with freshman Brandon Davis to blank J.P. Ritchie and Bart van Monsjou of Iowa, 8-0.

After a notable doubles performance, the Illini turned around and served up a first-class effort in singles. The Illini failed to lose a set and completed their first shutout of the Big Ten season. The Illini's top two players made the quickest work of the Hawkeyes as they grabbed the second and third points of the match. DeHeart made quick it at No. 1 over Malempati to gain his 36th win of the season, winning 6-3, 6-1. Jones looked great in his straight set winner over Markham, 6-2, 6-1, as he moved to 24-6 on the season and 6-0 in conference matches.

Fitting that a senior put a stamp on the undefeated conference season, as Zeder won the clinching fourth point defeating Jonny Hoak at No. 6, 6-2, 6-4. The senior class is now 110-9, just two wins away from tying the all-time mark set by last years seniors at 112-13. Freshman Ryan Rowe followed suit winning by the same score as his senior teammate, 6-2, 6-4 against Brett Taylor. Fellow freshman Ruben Gonzales continued his superior play winning 6-3, 6-2 over Ritchie. Martin rebounded with a strong outing against Monsjou, defeating the Hawkeye 6-1, 6-2.

The Big Ten champs will return back home to Atkins Tennis Center next weekend to host the Big Ten Championship. Play will begin on Thursday, April 28 and run through Sunday, May 1. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Results
No. 4 Illinois 7, Iowa 0

Singles
No. 1   #7 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. Chaitu Malempati (IOWA) 	6-3, 6-1
No. 2   #28 GD Jones (ILL) def. Kyle Markham (IOWA) 		       6-2, 6-1
No. 3   Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) 		     6-3, 6-2
No. 4   Chris Martin (ILL) def. Bart van Monsjou (IOWA) 		   6-1, 6-2
No. 5   Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Brett Taylor (IOWA) 			         6-2, 6-4
No. 6   Evan Zeder (ILL) def. Jonny Hoak (IOWA) 			          6-2, 6-4
Order of finish:  2, 1, 6, 4, 5, 3
Doubles
No. 1   DeHeart/Dabir (ILL) def. Markham/Taylor (IOWA) 	      8-5
No. 2   Jones/Martin (ILL) def. Malempati/Schaechterle (IOWA) 	8-3
No. 3   Zeder/Davis (ILL) def. Ritchie/van Monsjou (IOWA) 	    8-0
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2