University of Illinois
Kentucky
Illinois Hands Kentucky 7-0 Shutout
April 12, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 12, 2006
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The fifth-ranked Fighting Illini avenged last year's loss to No. 30 Kentucky and overcame the windy elements with a 7-0 thumping at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Wednesday evening. With the victory, Illinois improves to 16-5 overall while the Wildcats drop to 15-8.
"We got a good road win today," head coach Brad Dancer said. "I was especially pleased with the progress of Marc Spicijaric. We're really going to need him down the stretch. We need to keep getting better and keep getting healthier and prepare for this weekend. We have a lot of matches in just a few days, it's going to be tough."
The Orange and Blue snagged the doubles point for the 16th time this year as junior GD Jones and freshman Marc Spicijaric cruised to an 8-4 victory over Bruno Agostinelli and Kenny Hodge on court No. 3. The win is the third in a row for the Illini tandem.
Illinois clinched the doubles point behind the play of the17th-ranked senior duo of Ryler DeHeart and Pramod Dabir. The twosome defeated Shane Collins and Nate Emge 8-3 at the No. 2 position to improve to 2-0 in the dual season and 4-0 overall. The Illini's sophomore tandem of Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe continue to steamroll their competition with an 8-5 win over Alex Hume and Marcus Sundh. The win keeps the fourth-ranked pair's record unblemished at 13-0 all at the No. 1 position.
No. 60 Rowe started the sweep in singles for the Illini with his 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 58 Agostinelli on the fourth court. Rowe is now 5-1 against ranked opponents and 26-3 overall. Spicijaric put the Illini within one point of winning the match as he downed Carey Rubin, 6-1, 6-3, to improve 13-1 in dual matches and 20-7 overall.
Dabir made it 4-0 with his 11th win of the dual season. The Saratoga, Calif., native won by straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, over Kenny Hodge. No. 64 Jones soon followed as he defeated No. 115 Emge 6-3, 6-2.
The Illini took the next two matches in a third set as Gonzales topped Sundh 6-3, 4-6, 10-2 and DeHeart improved to a team leading 30-4 overall record with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat of the Wildcats top ranked player No. 56 Hume. With the win, DeHeart's record in three set matches improves to an impressive 9-0.
The Fighting Illini will continue their marathon with two more road matches against Big Ten opponents Wisconsin and Northwestern on April 15 and 16, marking the teams fourth and fifth matches in nine days.
No. 5 ILLINOIS 7, at No. 30 Kentucky 0
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex
Lexington, Ky.
Singles
1. No. 3 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. No. 56 Alex Hume (UK); 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 64 GD Jones (ILL) def. No. 115 Nate Emge (UK); 6-3, 6-2
3. No. 60 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. No. 58 Bruno Agostinelli (UK); 6-4, 6-2
4. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Marcus Sundh (UK); 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(2)
5. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Carey Rubin (UK); 6-1, 6-3
6. Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Kenny Hodge (UK); 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 5, 6, 2, 4, 1
Doubles
1. No. 4 Rowe/Anderson (ILL) def. Hume/Sundh (UK); 8-5
2. No. 17 Dabir/DeHeart (ILL) def. Collns/Emge (UK); 8-3
3. Spicijaric/Jones (ILL) def. Agostinelli/Hodge (UK); 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
