April 28, 2007
Results
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ­- The No. 9 Illinois men's tennis team avenged its earlier season loss to No. 20 Michigan this afternoon, doing it in championship style at the Schwartz Tennis Center on the campus of Purdue University. The Fighting Illini handed the 2007 Big Ten Tournament's second seed a 4-1 setback in the semifinals en route to earning its ninth straight berth into the conference tournament's final match. The Illini accomplished the victory after putting on a doubles clinic against the Wolverines to take a 1-0 lead before battling in singles to advance to the final day of the Big Ten Tournament where they will face Ohio State.
"I can't say enough about the doubles play today," head coach Brad Dancer said. "I was really pleased with Brandon and Ruben, who played with a lot of intensity and came out and set the tone for the match. Today was huge for a lot of our guys, as GD battled through some injury in his win and Rowe was able to fight in his match against Maravic. It was also important for Marc to come back and win his second set; all of it was just a total team effort."
The win improved Illinois to 18-7 on the season and set up a match against No. 1-seeded Ohio State (26-1, 10-0) on Sunday at noon (EST), 11 a.m. (CDT), at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The third-ranked Buckeyes moved into the finals of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament after taking down No. 4-seeded Wisconsin, 4-0, in their semifinal match earlier today.
Illinois has advanced into the finals every year since 1999 when the conference moved to the current format of 11-seeds and the top-four seeds receiving a bye into the quarterfinals. Illinois will look to capture its seventh tournament championship in the last nine years against Ohio State on Sunday, marking the fourth straight time, fifth overall, the two teams have met in the finals in the past nine years.
Ohio State upset Illinois in last year's conference final, while the Illini have won three out of the five meetings in the conference tournament title match..
A full recap of the Illini's match against the Buckeyes will be available at www.fightingillini.com, following the conclusion of the match. Live scoring also can be followed at purduesports.com as well as complete tournament coverage.
MATCH RECAP: HITTING PAST THE WOLVERINES
In a bright and sunny day at the Schwartz Tennis Center, the Illini geared up for revenge against the No. 20-ranked Michigan Wolverines, looking to avenge an earlier season 5-2 loss in Ann Arbor, Mich. Illinois, who had not lost a conference match except to Ohio State in the last two years, were upset by the Wolverines in the regular season and were looking to not let that happen again on the conference-tournament stage.
In an Illini doubles clinic, Illinois could not miss a shot in the early goings of doubles action on courts one and two. At No. 1, juniors ninth-ranked Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe schooled their eighth-ranked opponents from Michigan, Matko Maravic and Brian Hung, in an 8-2 defeat. From the onset, the NCAA doubles champions could not miss as the Wolverines failed to manage a game-point until 6-1 and then broke at 6-2. Despite the minor hiccup, the Illini rebounded for the final two points as Anderson smashed a serve to polish off the win.
On court two, juniors Brandon Davis and Ruben Gonzales mirrored their Fighting Illini compatriots just one court away, storming out to a 3-0 start before Michigan held to bring the score to 3-1. Rattling off another trio of points against No. 57-ranked Ryan Heller and Andrew Mazlin (MICH), the Illini then took a 6-1 lead. From there, Davis (ILL) clocked a service winner past Mazlin (MICH) to seal the 8-3 victory and clinch the doubles point. On court three, the duo of senior GD Jones and sophomore Marc Spicijaric were putting on a crowd pleaser of their own, rallying behind the cheers of a pro-Illini crowd to take a 7-5 lead over Mike Srocynski and George Navas (MICH) before play was ended.
In singles, Michigan tallied the first win on court four as Gonzales fell 6-3, 6-1 to Heller (MICH). However, it would not be long before the Illini's Davis would put the Orange and Blue back on top at 2-1. In his match, combining a good balance of groundstrokes from the baseline and solid approaches to net, the Illini junior could not be stopped as he served out the first set and broke to win the match in the second, 6-3, 6-3, over Steve Peretz (MICH).
Michigan, however, pushed Illinois to the limits and showed they would not go quietly in the remaining matches.
On court two, Rowe (ILL) looked in full control after notching a 6-1 first-set victory, but Maravic (MICH) snuck a few passing shots in the second-set tiebreaker past the Moline, Ill., native to win 7-6(6).
At No. 1 singles, Anderson (ILL) outlasted Hung (MICH) in the first set after three consecutive games going to multiple deuces to win the opening frame 7-5. From there, Hung (MICH) upped his game against the Illini junior on every point before taking the second 6-3.
Coming down to the wire, the Illini ignited their games behind the continued cheers of the Illini faithful; needing just too wins to setup their conference finals date on Sunday.
In the first, Jones, Illinois' lone senior, found himself in dogfight in the No. 5 spot, as he entered a third set behind an opening-set 7-6(5) victory before dropping the second 6-4 to Srocynski (MICH). From there, the senior took care of business, fighting through a sore shoulder to take down the Wolverine in the third 6-4, bringing the Illini one match away from the finals, 3-1.
Coming through in one of his best performances of the year, Rowe (ILL) returned to form to take a 5-1 lead in the third set. After a Michigan hold from Maravic (MICH), Rowe polished off the victory with a forehand volley to the deuce court to win 6-2.
TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS vs. NO. 2-SEED MICHIGAN
4/28/2007
No. 3-Seed/No. 9-Ranked ILLINOIS 4, No. 2 seed/No. 20-Ranked Michigan 1
Singles competition
1. #5 Kevin Anderson (ILL) vs. #48 Brian Hung (MICH) 7-5, 3-6, 1-1, unfinished
2. #23 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. #49 Matko Maravic (MICH) 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2
3. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) vs. Andrew Mazlin (MICH) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 2-4, unfinished
4. Ryan Heller (MICH) def. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) 6-3, 6-1
5. GD Jones (ILL) def. Mike Srocynski (MICH) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3
6. Brandon Davis (ILL) def. Steve Peretz (MICH) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #9 Kevin Anderson/Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. #8 Brian Hung/Matko Maravic (MICH) 8-2
2. Ruben Gonzales/Brandon Davis (ILL) def. #57 Ryan Heller/Andrew Mazlin (MICH) 8-3
3. GD Jones/Marc Spicijaric (ILL) vs. Mike Srocynski/George Navas (MICH) 7-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (4, 6, 5, 2)
