April 6, 2005
Champaign, Ill. -
Atkins Tennis Center had witnessed a school record 38 consecutive wins by the Illini over the past three seasons, but on Wednesday night all that came to an end as the visiting No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats quieted the crowd of 326 with a 4-3 victory over the No. 2 Illini. The loss is the Illini's first since March 7th, 2002 when No. 6 Notre Dame came in and stole a 4-3 win. The Orange and Blue's streak of 38 matches saw 26 ranked opponents, including five top-10 teams fall victim to the Illini. Illinois drops to 14-3 (4-0) overall, while Kentucky moves to 16-6.
"Tonight, we played not to lose," Illinois head coach Craig Tiley said. "We backed ourselves in a corner every opportunity we had. I told the guys in the locker room in order for them to progress to a higher level, this type of performance has to be completely unsatisfactory."
The Illini fell behind early in the match after dropping two of the three doubles matches. Pramod Dabir and Kevin Anderson supplied Illinois' one win at No. 2. The pair held a slim margin throughout, but the Wildcats never wavered as they took the Illini duo to the limit falling 9-7.
The doubles match of the night went to the No. 8 combo of Ryler DeHeart and GD Jones against Kentucky's No. 12 Jesse Witten and Tigran Martirosyan. It first appeared early on that the Illini would enjoy a route, as they took a 6-3 lead. However, the top Wildcat pairing battled back to tie things up at 7-7 and went on to win the match 9-8 (2) to seal the first point for Kentucky. At No. 3, Chris Martin and Ryan Rowe never were able to get it going as they dropped the match 8-2 to Alex Hume and Nate Emge.
Illinois jumped right back into the thick of things as singles play began as they were supported quickly by the No. 6 position. Freshman Ruben Gonzales continued his astounding and punishing play winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 over Nolan Polley. Kentucky answered back with a huge win by No. 4 Jesse Witten, who was taken to the limit in three sets by No. 5 Ryler DeHeart, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Back-and-fourth it went, as the Illini again clawed out another win to even the score at 2-2. Anderson's win over Matt Emery in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 snapped a skid for the freshman and also appeared to lift the Illini as they looked to take control of the match. Unfortunately, that would be the last match the Orange and Blue would grab until the match was out of reach. Monte Tucker and Martin could not hang on any longer, as both held leads in the second set and looked to force a third, but lost 7-6 (2), 7-5 and 6-4, 7-5 respectively. Jones won by default, before the beginning of the third set, as the two were 4-6, 6-4.
"We are a good team, and that's what we were tonight a good team," Tiley said. "We talk to these guys about improving and getting better at their games. That is what I am most disappointed about tonight, that we are not making the progress that we are capable of making. We are better than we played tonight, but we controlled the situation and just didn't take advantage of it."
Illinois will be facing Big Ten opponents the rest of the way until NCAA Tournament play, beginning this weekend on the road at Michigan State and Michigan. The Illini will begin at noon in East Lansing on Saturday, April 9 and conclude the weekend in Ann Arbor with a noon tilt on Sunday, April 10.
Results
No. 18 Kentucky 4, No. 2 Illinois 3
Doubles:
1. No. 12 Jesse Witten/Tigran Martirosyan (KEN) def. No. 8 Jones/DeHeart (ILL) 9-8 (2)
2. Kevin Anderson/Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Matt Emery/Marcus Sundh (KEN) 9-7
3. Alex Hume/Nate Emge (KEN) def. Chris Martin/Ryan Rowe (ILL) 8-2
Singles:
1. No. 4 Jesse Witten (KEN) def. No. 5 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
2. No. 33 GD Jones (ILL) def. Alex Hume (KEN) 4-6, 6-4 (Default)
3. No. 42 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. Matt Emery (KEN) 7-5, 6-3
4. Nate Emge (KEN) def. Chris Martin (ILL) 6-4, 7-5
5. Tigran Martirosyan (KEN) def. Monte Tucker (ILL) 7-6 (2), 7-5
6. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Nolan Polley (KEN) 6-4, 6-1
