Illini Open NCAA Tournament on Friday
May 10, 2006 | Men's Tennis
May 10, 2006
Illinois' NCAA Notes
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STATE OF THE ILLINI
The eighth-ranked Illinois men's tennis team (22-6) earned the No. 7 seed and will begin its goal of winning a national championship when they travel to Louisville, Ky., for the first and second rounds of the 2006 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships on May 12 and 13. The Orange and Blue will play Western Illinois (14-7), the Mid-Continent Conference's automatic bid at Louisville's Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on Friday at 9 a.m. (CT). The winner will face either No. 27 Louisville (18-7) or No. 37 Southern Methodist (17-8) on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT).
Western Illinois ended Oral Roberts' five-year conference tournament streak with a 4-1 win over the Golden Eagles in the championship match. Louisville entered the Big East conference tournament as the No. 2 seed and dethroned top-seed Notre Dame 4-1 to claim its first conference title. SMU was upset by eventual Conference USA champion Tulsa in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The last four rounds of the tourney will take place at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center, May 20-23. The team championships will be followed by the singles and doubles championships from May 24-29.
This is the 11th straight year the Illini have made the tournament. Illinois has been seeded in the Top-16 every year since the draw was expanded to 64 teams. Illinois was denied the right to host post season play due to the NCAA's policy banning American Indian imagery that is deemed "hostile or abusive," ending a seven-year run of hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament.
FOUR ILLINI SELECTED FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Subcommittee selected the 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams that will compete in the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships and four members of the Illinois tennis program appeared on the list. Ryler DeHeart and Kevin Anderson were selected to the singles field, while the tandem of DeHeart and Pramod Dabir and the nation's fourth-ranked team of Anderson and Ryan Rowe were selected to the doubles field.
DeHeart is making his second consecutive appearance in both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. The Tampa, Fla., native was named an All-American last year after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the singles draw and automatically earned All-America status this season by way of being seeded in the top 16. DeHeart will be seeded 9-16 when the draw is announced. Last season, DeHeart reached the Sweet 16 of the Doubles Championship with GD Jones, but will try to build on that finish with fellow senior Dabir this year. Dabir and DeHeart are ranked No. 19 in the latest ITA poll and own a 10-0 record.
Anderson earned an at-large bid into the singles draw and will try to repeat as an All-American after reaching the Sweet 16 last year in College Station, Texas. Anderson and fellow sophomore Ryan Rowe are ranked No. 4 by the ITA, earned the subsequent No. 4 seed, and were both automatically named All-Americans. The duo is 16-1 in doubles and defeated the No. 1 seed team of Scott Green and Ross Wilson in the Big Ten championship match as well as downing last year's NCAA doubles champions, Antonio Ruiz and John Isner of Georgia, at the ITA National Indoor team championships.
TOURNAMENT SHOTS
• Illinois is making its 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, which is currently the 10th longest streak in the nation behind Duke, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, TCU and UCLA.
• Illinois has compiled a 22-9 (.710) record all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Since 1999, when the NCAA expanded its field to 64 teams, Illinois reached the national quarterfinal in every year but 2001 and 2005, including two consecutive Final Four appearances. Illinois' all-time series record in each round of the NCAA Tournament rounds are:
1st round: 7-0 2nd round: 6-1 Round of 16: 5-4 Quarterfinal: 2-3 Semifinal: 1-1 Final: 1-0 * Includes 1996-1998 when the field was only 16 teams• Illinois is 12-2 in the past three years of the tournament. The Illini have also won at least three tournament matches, reaching the national quarterfinal, in four of the past six seasons.
• Illinois is 2-4 against current Top-10 teams this year with wins against No. 5 Duke and No. 7 Virginia. The Illini have posted an 11-6 record against the 16 NCAA tournament teams it has faced this season.
ILLINI EARN BIG TEN HONORS
Three members of the Illini tennis team were recognized at the Big Ten Championship banquet in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 27. Ryler DeHeart was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year for the second straight season and was also a unanimous All-Big Ten selection. Kevin Anderson was named to the All-Big Ten team and Pramod Dabir won the school's Big Ten Sportsmanship honor.
MORE HARDWARE AWARDED AT ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
The team took some time to celebrate the past year's accomplishments at the 13th annual Advantage Illinois Tennis Awards Banquet at the Round Barn Banquet Centre in Champaign on Monday night. The awards were voted on by players, coaches and support staff.
The Most Valuable Player was awarded to Ryler DeHeart for the second straight year. Ruben Gonzales won the GPA award for his 3.79 in Recreation, Sport and Tourism and took home the Player to Watch award. DeHeart also won the Strength and Conditioning award while Ryan Rowe was named the Most Improved Player. Brandon Davis was awarded the team's Chris Martin Spirit Award.
HEAD COACH Brad Dancer
Brad Dancer became Illinois' 19th men's tennis head coach on June 28, 2005. Dancer enters the position with one year under his belt at Illinois, as associate head coach in 2004-05.
This season, Dancer has led the team to a semifinal appearnce at the ITA National Indoor Championships and a 22-6 record, which is tied for the eighth best in school history.
In his first season with the Illini as associate head coach, Dancer helped lead the Orange and Blue to a 25-4 record and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen before falling to Florida State.
Before coming to Illinois, Dancer compiled a 38-35 overall record in three seasons as the head coach of Fresno State. He led his teams to two NCAA Tournament appearances and in 2003, his squad advanced to the second round, which was the farthest advancement in his tenure. That year, Fresno State went 18-9 and finished ranked 35th nationally. In 2004, Fresno State went 13-10, losing in the first round of the WAC and NCAA Tournaments.
His first year at Fresno State was a bit of a struggle as he took the reigns in the middle of the season. Solid recruiting and a sound-coaching job helped Fresno State get back on track immediately in his second season recording a 17-8 record and an NCAA appearance, after going 7-16 in his first year.
Along with his tennis efforts at Fresno State, Dancer managed to contribute a great deal off the court as well. In his first two seasons, the team GPA climbed from 2.4 to 3.3 and he helped initiate expansion of booster club memberships by 300 percent.
In 1999, Dancer took his first head coaching position, when he was tabbed to guide the University of Arizona women's tennis team. His force was quickly felt as he guided the Wildcats to a berth in the NCAA tournament, where they eventually fell to USC in the second round.
During Dancer's two years at the U of A, the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association's final rankings featured five Pac-10 schools among the top 12. His results at Arizona are even more impressive considering that Arizona, who plays in the Pac-10 Conference, is regarded nationally as the toughest in the nation. The team was ranked in the top 25 both years with Dancer as head coach.
Dancer began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant men's tennis coach at Michigan State, his alma mater, where he stayed from 1993-98 until moving onto Arizona.
He started his coaching career in clubs and academies in Michigan, Colorado and later Bradenton, Fla., near his current home in Sarasota. He has traveled to more than 20 countries working with elite junior development programs and numerous touring professionals. Martina Navratilova, Joannette Kruger and 1999 Australian Open and Roland Garros mixed doubles champion Mariaan de Swardt are some of the renowned athletes Dancer has worked with.
In 1996 he began his ongoing role as an assistant to Billie Jean King for the Fed Cup Team. His work with touring professionals has involved overall preparations, diet, fitness, technique and court strategy.
From 1998 to 2004, Dancer has been a key member in World Team Tennis and in his term he has had the privilege to teach team members such as Patrick McEnroe and Serena Williams. In 2003, he guided the Delaware Smash, a World Team Tennis organization, to the World Team Tennis Championship and was named Coach of the Year.
Dancer earned his bachelor's degree in business administration in 1993 from Michigan State, where he played the No. 1 singles and earned All-Big Ten honors his senior year. He was a four-year Academic All-Big Ten selection from 1990-93, team captain and an NCAA qualifier his senior year.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
The Illini senior class of Pramod Dabir and Ryler DeHeart have their sights set on becoming the all-time winningest class in Illini history. Last year's graduating class of Chris Martin, Conner Murnighan and Evan Zeder set a new standard in Illinois tennis history with a record of 115-10, the most wins for a graduating class at Illinois. This year's class is currently 111-11. To tie the record, the Illini need to reach the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
Most Wins By Class ... 1. 2002-2005 115-10 (.920) 2. 2001-2004 112-13 (.896) 3. 2003-present 111-11 (.910) 4. 2000-2003 105-16 (.868) 5. 1999-2002 101-20 (.835)RECORD BREAKER
Ryler DeHeart broke Michael Calkins' 2004 Illinois school record of 123 career singles wins with a 6-3, 6-1 straight set defeat of Texas' 34th-ranked Callum Beale on March 10th in Austin. DeHeart is also zeroing in on the Illinois all-time combined wins list. The senior currently has 235 combined wins which is ranks him number two on the list. Calkins' ranks first, finishing his career with 246 wins.
DOUBLES DOMINANCE
The fourth-ranked duo of sophomores Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe continue to shake up the collegiate tennis scene with a 16-1 record at the No. 1 doubles position. Anderson, 6'7", and Rowe, 6'5", have knocked off five ranked teams that were all ranked inside the top 45 at the time of the match. The sophomore duo also took down the 2005 NCAA doubles champions John Isner and Antonio Ruiz of Georgia 8-6 on Feb. 19 and most recently defeated the current No. 1 doubles team of Ohio State's Ross Wilson and Scott Green, 8-4, in the Big Ten Championship match. Ryler DeHeart and Ruben Gonzales also provide consistency, amassing an 11-3 dual match record. Lately, DeHeart has teamed with fellow senior Pramod Dabir to win ten straight. The senior pair is ranked No. 19.
FAB FRESHMAN
The Illini's lone freshman, Marc Spicijaric, went 7-6 in the fall, but has turned up the heat in the dual match season. The former nationally-ranked No. 1 singles and doubles junior has won all but three of his dual matches at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, including his first 11. He currently has a 17-3 dual match record, 25-9 overall.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
The Illini rank No. 8 in the latest Fila Collegiate rankings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and released on May 1. Georgia (24-0) maintains the top spot for the 11th straight week. Following Georgia in the men's top 10 are Pepperdine, Texas, Baylor, Duke, Ohio State, Virginia, Illinois, Miami (Fla.) and UCLA. The team ranking uses a computer formula. For the first time in three years, the singles and doubles rankings are determined by a computer formula as well.
Individually, Ryler DeHeart, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation for the fall season, is ranked No. 11, followed by 24th-ranked Kevin Anderson, 68th-ranked Ryan Rowe and 88th-ranked GD Jones. The Illini also have three doubles teams ranked. Anderson and Rowe are No. 4, Pramod Dabir and DeHeart are No. 19 and the pair of DeHeart and Ruben Gonzales are No. 31.
DOUBLE THE PLESURE
The Illini have been very consistent this season, amassing a 22-1 record when they won the doubles point. In all but one Illinois' losses, they lost the doubles point.
ILLINI EARN PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS
• Kevin Anderson won his second career Player of the Week honor and the first this season after helping the Illini sweep their final regular season weekend. Anderson was Co-Player of the Week with Ohio State's Scott Green. The South African lead the Illini charge with a win at No. 1 doubles against the Gophers and followed with a hard-fought three set win at No. 3 singles. Anderson flashed his All-American talent with a dominating singles win against Iowa the following day.
• Ryler DeHeart won his second Player of the Week honor and the fourth of his career on April 19 after going 6-0 over opponents from Kentucky, Wisconsin and Northwestern. DeHeat won each of his singles tilts in the third set and his doubles point-clinching win at Wisconsin proved to be the difference maker in the team's 4-3 victory.
• Ruben Gonzales claimed back-to-back singles victories and two doubles wins against Clemson and Harvard to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors (Feb. 15) for the first time in his career just one week after GD Jones earned the accolade.
• GD Jones earned Player of the Week honors on Feb. 8 for his effort against Duke's top player. Jones stunned two-time All-American Ludovic Walter, then-ranked No. 9 in the nation, in a gritty three-set match in Durham, N.C.
• DeHeart garnered his third career Big Ten Player of the Week honor on Jan. 18 for his effort at the Mexico Invitational. All four of his singles victories resulted in straight-set wins from opponents from California and Georgia Tech. In addition, he won all five of his doubles tilts.
SMASH MAGAZINE NAMES ILLINOIS A TOP TEN PROGRAM
Smash Magazine has named the University of Illinois as the eighth best Division I tennis program. The criteria are based on academic rank (from U.S. News & World Report's America Best Colleges) and their average year-end tennis ranking over the last five seasons. Stanford holds the number one spot followed by Duke, UCLA and California.
THE STREAK ENDS
Illinois' remarkable streak of 86 consecutive regular season Big Ten dual wins came to an end on April 2 at the Stickney Tennis Center where Ohio State took down the Orange and Blue 5-2. The loss was the first for Illinois since 1997 and also ended a streak of 55 consecutive conference (regular season and postseason) matches. During that streak the Orange and Blue have won nine regular season titles and eight conference tournament titles in the last 10 years.
HOME COOKIN'
Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana has proved to be a seventh man for the Orange and Blue in recent years. Last season, Kentucky snapped Illinois' school record 38-match win streak on April 6. The Illini have gone 136-26 (.840) at Atkins Tennis Center since it was built in 1991. Since March 30, 2002, the Illini are a remarkable 56-2 on their home court.
