April 30, 2005

Urbana, Ill. - It was not as easy as it appeared, but the Illini still managed to make it look that way as they cruised to a 4-0 victory over the 5th seeded Northwestern Wildcats in today's semifinal match at the Atkins Tennis Center with 339 fans looking on. The Illini again extended some impressive streaks with the win, but none were more significant than what the seniors accomplished on Saturday. The seniors tied the record for most wins by a class with their 112th today over Northwestern, tying the mark held by last year's senior class (112-13). With a win tomorrow in the championship match, this year's seniors would set a new standard in Illinois tennis.

"The players had a goal that no one was going to lose this weekend and so far it hasn't happened," head coach Craig Tiley said. "It gets tougher as you go along, but they know what it means to compete for the tournament title. How they come out and play tomorrow is anyone's guess, but I bet they come out and play pretty smart."

One reason why the Illini improved to 22-3 on Saturday was due to the solid doubles play, which was steady once again for the Orange and Blue as they grabbed two wins at No. 2 and 3 to take the first point of the morning. Chris Martin and Ryan Rowe began the charge with an 8-4 victory against Justin Hoeveler and Willy Lock. At No. 2, Pramod Dabir and Ryler DeHeart sealed the point with an 8-6 triumph over Northwestern's Christian Tempke and Adam Schaechterle. GD Jones and Monte Tucker held a 6-5 lead over Tommy Hanus and Chuck Perrin at No. 1 before play was abandoned.

DeHeart showed why he was deserving of the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award today in the No. 1 singles match against No. 91 Hanus. The junior had defeated Hanus early this season, but early on he failed to show any signs of how he accomplished that previously. Hanus took an early 4-2 lead in the first set, but was unsuccessful in winning another game the rest of the set as DeHeart tallied four straight to take it 6-4. In the second, it was nearly the same situation as DeHeart trailed 5-2, before going on a furious rally to win the set (7-5) and the match in straight sets.

At No. 5, Martin again showed why he could be coming on at the right time for the Illini as he won in straight sets against Christian, 6-0, 6-1. Gonzales finished the match with his first victory of the tournament against Lock at No. 4, 6-3, 7-5.

"We have had an unbelievable effort by Ruben and Monte this year," Tiley said. "The way they have performed in the lineup and how they have grown and matured is what we hoped would happen."

Jones and Tucker held leads before their matches were abandoned, while Dabir was even at a set-a-piece.

The Illini will roll into their tenth straight finals appearance on Sunday to host the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan match (2 p.m.). The match is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. CST at Atkins Tennis Center.

Semifinal Results
No. 1 seed Illinois 4, No. 5 seed Northwestern 0

Doubles:
1. GD Jones/M. Tucker (ILL) vs. T. Hanus/C. Perrin (NW)               6-5 (DNF)
2. P. Dabir/R. DeHeart (ILL) def. C. Tempke/A. Schaechterle (NW)      8-6
3. C. Martin/Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Justin Hoeveler/W. Lock (NW)        8-4
Order of finish: 3, 2

Singles:
1. No. 8 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. No. 91 Tommy Hanus (NW)   6-4, 7-5
2. No. 24 GD Jones (ILL) vs. Christian Tempke (NW)          7-5, 5-4 (DNF)
3. Monte Tucker (ILL) vs. Chuck Perrin (NW)                 6-4, 3-6, 4-3 (DNF)
4. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Willy Lock (NW)                6-3, 7-5
5. Chris Martin (ILL) def. Matt Christian (ILL)	     6-0, 6-1
6. Pramod Dabir (ILL) vs. Adam Schaechterle (NW) 	     1-6, 6-4 (DNF)
Order of finish: 5, 1, 4