April 8, 2006
URBANA, Ill. -
The No. 7 Illinois men's tennis program began their weekend's back-to-back home conference matches in the right direction on Saturday. The Illini extended its season record to 14-5 and its conference record to 4-1 after defeating the Michigan State Spartans, 5-2 in their first of two home matches this weekend. With the loss, Michigan State fell to 7-13 on the season with their conference record dropping to 1-5.
"I'm pleased we got through today's match. We have been tested a little bit in a few of our last matches. Today was a good chance for us to respond and to get us back on the winning track."
The Illini jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage after taking all three doubles matches from Michigan State. The Illini's tandem of Ruben Gonzales and Ryan Rowe made quick work of the Spartans' sophomore duo of Nick Rinks and Adam Monich. Gonzales and Rowe began the match by taking the first five games and eventually defeated their opponents 8-3.
The Orange and Blue's team of Pramod Dabir and GD Jones followed in suit sealing the doubles point for the Illini with an 8-2 victory over Scott Rasmussen and Mike Flowers. Brandon Davis and Marc Spicijaric sweetened the deal with an 8-6 win over John Allare and Joe McWilliams.
Two late scratches in the Illini singles lineup forced Coach Dancer to rearrange his game plan. Ryler DeHeart was replaced by Jones at the No. 1 position and Kevin Anderson by Spicijaric at the No. 4 position. The two moves paved the way for senior Pramod Dabir and sophomore Brandon Davis to take over at the No. 5 and No. 6 slot respectively.
"We needed DeHeart to sit a match and we got that accomplished today. He will be ready to go tomorrow against Michigan. And it was a good opportunity for Anderson to rest because we wanted to give some of our other guys some playing time," Dancer said.
Michigan State quickly tied the Illini 1-1 after Brandon Davis injured his hamstring forcing an injury default. Davis was leading Rasmussen 4-1 in the first set at the time. Davis will be evaluated by the team's doctors later today.
Pramod Dabir untied the match with a straight-set 6-3, 6-0 victory over McWilliams. The win improved Dabir's undefeated conference play to 4-0. Other than Dabir's January 29th 6-1, 6-0 victory over Virginia's Marko Miklo, today' match marks the smallest number of games that Dabir has given up in a dual match all season.
Up 2-1, the Illini continued their dominance winning their next three matches in straight-set fashion. Spicijaric improved his record to 20-7 after defeating Flowers 6-2, 6-3. No. 60 Ryan Rowe added to the Illini lead and secured the victory for the Orange and Blue by beating Monich 6-3, 6-3. With this win, Rowe's dual-match record improved to 14-2 over his last 16 matches. Gonzales followed in suit as he defeated Allare 7-5, 6-0 in straight-set style. The win for Gonzales improves his record to 19-13 and snaps an 0-6 record over his last six dual matches.
No. 62 Jones dropped his first set, 7-6(3), but took the next one 7-5. However, Jones' second match win proved to be too little as No. 117 Rinks went on to win the third set, 10-5, and the match. With the loss today, Jones' record fell to 9-6.
Up Next: Illinois is slated to take on the No. 35 Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, April 9, 2006. The match is set to begin at 12 p.m. (CDT) at Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
No. 7 Illinois 5, Michigan State 2
Atkins Tennis Center
Urbana, Ill
Singles
1.No. 117 Nick Rinks (MSU) def. No. 64 GD Jones (ILL); 7-6(3), 5-7, 10-5
2.No. 60 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Adam Monich (MSU); 6-3, 6-3
3.Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. John Allare (MSU); 7-5, 6-0
4.Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Mike Flowers (MSU); 6-2, 6-3
5.Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Joe McWilliams (MSU); 6-3, 6-0
6.Scott Rasmussen (MSU) def. Brandon Davis (ILL); 1-4 inj def
Order of finish: 6, 5, 4, 2, 3, 1
Doubles
1.Gonzales/Rowe (ILL) def. Nick Rinks/Adam Monich (MSU); 8-3
2.Davis/Spicijaric (ILL) def. John Allare/Joe McWilliams (MSU); 8-6
3.Dabir/Jones (ILL) def. Scott Rasmussen/Mike Flowers (MSU); 8-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
