Oct. 13, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ­ - Sophomore Marc Spicijaric cruised through the brackets, going 2-0 on Friday, Oct. 13 in singles to land in the quarterfinals at the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Midland, Texas. The Illini sophomore dropped only one set on the day and will face Barry King of Notre Dame in his next match Saturday morning.

Junior Brandon Davis, however, met stiff competition in his singles matches, falling in the first round to Clancy Shields of Boise State, 7-6, 7-6 before dropping out of the bracket with his loss to Christoph Mueller of Rice, 7-5, 6-2. In both matches, Davis held his serve and played some tough points, but late-game pushes from his opponents made the difference in the two setbacks.

For Spicijaric, a first-round bye kept him fresh for his second-round match against Bruno Alcala of Arizona. The Wesley Chapel, Fla., native remained poised throughout his opening match, overcoming a second-set loss to comeback and dominate the final set in his 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory. In the third round, Spicijaric kicked his game into another gear, downing Sinisa Markovic of Texas Tech, 6-2, 6-2. The Illini sophomore will take a seven-match win streak into his quarterfinal tilt tomorrow.

In doubles, the Illini suffered a tough loss to Rice's Jason Mok and Christoph Mueller, 8-0, in the final match for the Illini of the day.

For continued coverage and tournament results of the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational, visit www.fightingillini.com at the end of each day's competition.