May 26, 2005

College Station, Texas - The Illinois' men's tennis team continued singles play and began doubles competition Thursday at the NCAA individual championships in College Station, Texas. Freshman Kevin Anderson joined teammate Ryler DeHeart on an elite list of players at Illinois to earn All-America honors today. Anderson garnered the honor by advancing to the round of 16, one of three different way of earning the distinction. DeHeart, who was already an All-American entering the tournament because he was seeded among the top-16, also advanced to the round of 16 today after winning a long three-set match that was prolonged due to a near three-hour rain delay. The junior then turned right around and teamed with GD Jones in the doubles tournament that began Thursday evening and advanced by winning in straight sets.

"It's great to get two more singles wins today, which means we have two All-Americans," head coach Craig Tiley said. "Its good to see two of our guys make it this deep in the tournament, but there is still a lot of tough matches ahead. Hopefully this will serve as a great opportunity for both Ryler and Kevin to build on for next year."

Anderson looked impressive once again on Thursday, as the freshmen shot down No. 38 Gabor Zoltan of Auburn, 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets for the third straight match since returning from injury.

Anderson becomes just the third Illini freshmen to earn All-America honors. Amer Delic (singles) and Rajeev Ram (doubles and singles), both earned the distinction in their first season at Illinois. The South African will have his hands full tomorrow as he is set to match up with the tournament's top-seed, Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch, who won his match on Thursday, 6-4, 6-0 over No. 19 Jamil Al-Agba of USC.

"Just a month ago, Kevin was in a boot and we were unsure of what he would be capable of at this point in the season," Tiley said. "I am very happy for him as a freshman to be playing like he is right now and earning All-American honors."

DeHeart ranked No. 8 nationally and seeded No. 7 in the tournament, again went three sets to notch his record setting 42nd win. The junior matched up with No. 17 Arnaud Lecloerec of VCU for the second time this season on Thursday, fortunately Lecloerec failed to learn what went wrong the first time around as DeHeart again used three sets to earn his second win over the Ram, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3. With the victory, DeHeart improves his record to 42-9, extending his record since moving past Gavin Sontag's previous school record for single-season all-time singles victories.

"Ryler showed a lot heart and fight in his match today," Tiley said. "It really was trademark of his play all season and it certainly helped him out today."

DeHeart will challenge another familiar opponent on Friday, No. 10 Pierrik Ysern of San Diego, who defeated Virginia's Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday. DeHeart's only blemish from his 18-1 start in the fall came at the hands of Ysern. The Torero beat the Illini junior 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 in the in the round of 32 at the ITA All-American Tournament in October.

GD Jones and DeHeart, who make up the nation's 10th ranked doubles team, began doubles competition on Thursday, as they faced off against No. 24 Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson of Ball State. The combo from Ball State knocked off Jones and DeHeart in the first dual match of the season, losing 9-8 (4). Today was a different story as the Illini pair reversed the outcome by defeating the Cardinals 6-3, 7-5. Doubles competition at the NCAA Tournament is best of three sets format, not the pro set to 8 like in season dual matches.

"I thought they (Jones and DeHeart) played a good match today," Tiley said. "They took care of the basics, which is something you have to do in doubles. This was a team they lost to in the first match of the season, so it was nice to see them turn the result around this time. The pair from Arizona are accomplished players and will present a good challenge tomorrow."

The duo from Arizona that Tiley is referring to is No. 20 Roger Matalonga and Colin O'Grady, who defeated No. 8 Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette from Florida, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday. The Illini combination did defeat the Wildcat duo earlier this season when the Arizona pair was No. 5 in the nation. Jones and DeHeart won the matchup 9-7 in the first round at the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championships in November.

Play for singles will begin at 12 p.m. CDT for singles, with doubles to follow on Friday. For more information and live scoring on the NCAA individual singles and doubles tournaments please visit: http://aggieathletics.com/specialsites/ncaatennis2005/index.php.

TODAY'S RESULTS

Singles
No. 8 Ryler DeHeart (7) (ILL) def. No. 17 Arnaud Lecloerec (VCU)	  5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 51 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. No. 38 Gabor Zoltan (AUB)		       6-4, 6-2

Doubles
No. 10 R. DeHeart/GD Jones (ILL) def. No. 24 Matt Baccarani/Patrick Thompson (BSU)      6-3, 7-5