Feb. 7, 2006

URBANA, Ill. - The University of Illinois men's tennis program improved to 4-0 with a 7-0 shutout over No. 28 Notre Dame (2-4) at the Atkins Tennis Center on Tuesday night. The Irish loss is their third in four days all against top-30 teams. The Illini have won six consecutive contests against their regional opponent including 11 of the last 12 meetings.

"Tonight was a good win from a results standpoint but I think we took a step backward in some areas," Coach Dancer said. "We can't let that happen if we want to make progress."

Although the Illini looked sluggish at times, they managed to win the doubles point for the fourth time in as many tries this season, something last year's squad struggled with.

The Orange and Blue looked as though they might be in trouble as sophomore Brandon Davis (Austin, Tex) and junior GD Jones (Auckland, New Zealand) were defeated on the third court by Eric Langenkamp and Andrew Roth 8-3, but senior Ryler DeHeart (Tampa, Fla.) and Ruben Gonzales (Terre Haute, Ind.) quickly evened the doubles competition at one a piece with their fourth win of the dual season, a convincing 8-2 dispatching of Sheeva Parbhu and Brett Hegleson on court No. 2. Sophomores Kevin Anderson (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Ryan Rowe (Moline, Ill.) faced Ryan Kechley and Barry King, the Irish's duo who just knocked off North Carolina's No. 1 nationally ranked team on Sat., but the Illini were too much as they sealed the doubles point with an 8-3 victory.

99th-ranked Rowe won his eighth consecutive match while handing junior Ryan Kechley his first dual match loss in six tries with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat on court five. Jones immediately followed with a 7-6(5), 6-1 win over King on court three.

With the Fighting Illini up 3-0, Gonzales, ranked No. 59, provided the match clinching fourth point with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Helgeson at the No. 4 position. The points continued to go in the Illini's favor as Anderson, ranked No. 37, improved to 10-1 on the season by dismantling eighth-ranked Bass 6-4, 7-5 at No. 2. Anderson has beat three higher ranked opponents in four dual matches. Langenkamp, ranked 65th, was the lone Irish player to win the opening set, but he could not convert that into a match victory, as he fell to senior Pramod Dabir (Saratoga, Calif.) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-0) at No. 6.

The No. 1 singles court continued to go back-and-fourth in a battle between No. 7 DeHeart and Parbhu, ranked 14th nationally. DeHeart took the first set 6-3 but went down 5-1 in the second. The senior clawed back, but dropped the second set 4-6. DeHeart took over in the third set winning 6-3 and improving to 7-0 in three-set matches this year. He has not lost since the first round of the ITA National Indoor Championships on Nov. 3.

"It's always nice to get a win at home, but we have to do better," DeHeart said. "We need our whole team to stay focused on their individual goals, which will in turn help propel us toward our team goals."

Tuesday's Results

#3 Illinois 7, #28 Notre Dame 0
Singles
No. 1:     No. 7 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) vs.  No. 14 Sheeva Parbhu   (UND) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 2:     No. 37 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. No. 8 Stephen Bass   (UND) 6-4, 7-5
No. 3:     GD Jones (ILL) def. Barry King   (UND) 7-6 (5), 6-1
No. 4:     No. 59 Ruben Gonzales (ILL) vs. Brett Helgeson   (UND) 6-2, 6-3
No. 5:     No. 99 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Ryan Keckley   (UND) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6:     Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. No. 65 Eric Langenkamp   (UND) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-0)
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4*, 2, 6, 1
Doubles
No. 1:     *Anderson/Rowe (ILL) def. Keckley/King (UND) 8-3
No. 2:     DeHeart/Gonzales (ILL) def. Helgeson/Parbhu (UND) 8-2
No. 3:     Langenkamp/Andrew Roth (UND) def. Brandon Davis/Jones (ILL) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*