University of Illinois
Minnesota
Seniors Shine In 6-1 Victory
April 22, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 22, 2006
URBANA, Ill. - The Illinois men's tennis team notched its sixth consecutive win with a 6-1 victory over No. 39 Minnesota on Saturday at Atkins Tennis Center. Illini seniors Ryler DeHeart and Pramod Dabir, playing in their final home weekend, both recorded wins in singles and doubles to keep their doubles record together unblemished this season. The win improves the Illini's record to 19-5 and 8-1 in the Big Ten while Minnesota drops to 12-11 and 6-3 in the conference.
"I feel good about the win," head coach Brad Dancer said. "I was pleased to see GD (Jones) go out and dominate his doubles match. We know he's capable of doing that and today he played with a different level of emotional intensity - we need that from him. Overall from a singles standpoint, Jones and Anderson found themselves in a tiebreaker situation, which is probably the best thing for them at this point. They haven't spent that much time on the court lately and that was a means for them to have a lot of pressure points. It certainly sharpened them mentally."
The Illini's consistency in doubles continued today as they grabbed the crucial one point advantage with wins from all three positions. GD Jones and Ruben Gonzales helped the Orange and Blue's cause at No. 3 with a convincing 8-1 victory over the duo of Mikey Kantar and Raoul Schwark. The Illini's sixth-ranked sophomore pair of Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe clinched the point and improved to 14-1 with an 8-3 win over Andres Osario and Sion Wilkins at No. 1. 12th-ranked Dabir and DeHeart began their final weekend with a bang, downing Nic Edlefsen and DJ Gaetz 8-3 to improve to 7-0.
The Illini separated themselves in singles as they took four first sets. No. 8 DeHeart won in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 to improve his team leading record to 33-5. Dabir soon followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6. Illinois freshman Marc Spicijaric clinched the Illini victory, handing Wilkins a 6-2, 6-3 defeat at No. 5.
The Gophers answered, getting on the board with a win from Schwark over Ruben Gonzales at No. 4. Schawrk took the first set 6-2, but Gonzales responded with a 6-4 win in the second set. In the end, the Gopher sophomore outlasted the Terre Haute, Ind., native in the super tiebreaker 10-4 to win the match.
The Illini grabbed the final two matches, but Minnesota wasn't going to go down without a fight. 21st-ranked Anderson battled with No. 121 Edlefsen and came away on top 6-4, 6-7(7), 1-0(7). Jones had similar results, beating Osorio , 7-6(4), 1-0(8) at the No. 2 position.
The Illini return to the Atkins Tennis Center tomorrow for the regular season finale against Iowa at noon. Illini seniors DeHeart and Dabir will be honored before the match.
No. 5 Illinois 6, No. 37 Minnesota 1
April 22, 2006
Atkins Tennis Center
Urbana, Ill.
SINGLES:
1. No. 8 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. No. 61 DJ Gaetz (MINN); 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 77 GD Jones (ILL) def. Andres Osorio (MINN); 5-7, 7-6(4), 1-0(8)
3. No. 21 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. No. 121 Nic Edlefsen (MINN); 6-4, 6-7(7), 1-0(7)
4. Raoul Schwark (MINN) def. Ruben Gonzales (ILL); 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (4)
5. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Sion Wilkins (MINN); 6-2, 6-3
6. Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Mikey Kantar (MINN); 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
DOUBLES:
1. No. 6 Anderson/Rowe (ILL) def. Osario/Wilkins (MINN); 8-3
2. No. 12 DeHeart/Dabir (ILL) def. Edlefsen/Gaetz (MINN); 8-3
3. Jones/Gonzales (ILL) def. Kanter/Schwark (MINN); 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
