April 3, 2005

Senior Chris Martin, won his doubles and singles matches this afternoon against 28th-ranked Ohio State to help propel the Illinois men's tennis team to a 5-2 victory in front of a crowd of nearly 350 at Atkins Tennis Center. The Illini are now 14-2 (4-0) this season, while the Buckeyes fell to 11-6 (3-1). The Orange and Blue have won 12 of the last 13 matches against Ohio State and lead the all-time series 55-25. Illinois also extended their school record home match win streak to 38.

"Actually, I thought it was going to be a lot closer than it was," Illinois head coach Craig Tiley said. "I didn't think we played particularly well, we could have been better at some spots, but overall I thought we competed well in doubles and did alright in singles."

In doubles, Martin paired with freshman Ryan Rowe to topple Ohio State's two-some of Devin Mullings and Chris Klingemann, 8-2. Today's doubles match was Rowe's first match competition since breaking his hand in warm-ups on March 5th against Indiana. The senior-freshman win was the first time that the two have competed in the same match, due to Martin's ankle injury to begin the year and Rowe's recent hand injury.

The duo of Kevin Anderson and Pramod Dabir clinched the doubles win at No. 2. The two improved to 7-2 this year after beating the tandem of Joey Atas and Drew Eberly, 8-5. Ninth-ranked GD Jones and Ryler DeHeart, fell short in their bid to knock off the nation's top ranked duo of Ross Wilson and Scott Green. The Illini pair fell beyond 3-0 early and couldn't recovery before dropping the match 8-3.

Martin concluded his perfect day with a straight set victory over Eberly at No. 5. Martin won the first set 6-3 and followed up with a 6-1 second set to improve to 5-4 this season. DeHeart followed suit to earn his 31st victory this year at No. 2. DeHeart dashed out to an early 3-0 lead in both sets, winning the first 6-3, and the second 6-2.

Freshman Ruben Gonzales provided the clinching match on the beautiful day with a victory at No. 6 over Dennis Mertens. Gonzales won 6-1, 6-2 earning his 20th victory. The freshman is 14-1 in dual matches for the Illini in 2005. GD Jones closed the scoring for the Illini, thanks to a three set win over Klingemann at No. 1. Jones dropped the first set, 7-6 (5), but rallied back to claim the second 7-5. Jones finished off the Buckeye 10-5 in the third set super tie-breaker. Jones is now 19-6 on the year.

"It was great to be at home again and we actually had a pretty good crowd considering the excitement around the basketball team," Tiley said. "The first match outdoors is always a tough one, but we had a beautiful day for tennis, which was nice for everyone."

The Orange and Blue will return to action on Wednesday against No. 18 Kentucky at Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill. The match will begin at 5:30.

April 3, 2005 Results No. 2 Illinois 5, No. 28 Ohio State 2

Doubles:
1. No. 1 Scott Green/Ross Wilson (OSU) def. No. 9 GD Jones/Ryler DeHeart (ILL) 8-3
2. Kevin Anderson/Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Joey Atas/Drew Eberly (OSU)          8-5
3. Chris Martin/Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Devin Mullings/Chris Klingemann (OSU)     8-2
Singles:
1. No. 27 GD Jones (ILL) def. Chris Klingemann (OSU)             6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-5
2. No. 6 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. No. 46 Joey Atas (OSU)         6-3, 6-2
3. No. 72 Devin Mullings (OSU) def. No. 24 Kevin Anderson (ILL)  6-2, 3-6, 7-6
4. Ross Wilson (OSU) def. Monte Tucker (ILL)                     6-4, 6-3
5. Chris Martin (ILL) def. Drew Eberly (OSU)                     6-3, 6-1
6. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Dennis Mertens (OSU)                6-3, 6-2