Sept. 11, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 2007 NCAA finalists Illinois men's tennis team opens the 2008 fall season with a bang at the Olympia Fields Country Club (OFCC)/Fighting Illini Intercollegiate Tennis Invitational hosted on the clay courts of OFCC in Olympia Fields, Ill., Sept. 14-16. For an Illini team that is hungry for an NCAA title this season, UI will open the year with a challenge against a loaded field, including 2007 NCAA Sweet Sixteen teams Notre Dame and Alabama and NCAA qualifier Miami.

"What a fantastic and unique experience for our student-athletes and all the teams to be participating in such prestigious event," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Olympia Fields is pulling out the red carpet and putting on a top-notch tournament. We are just ecstatic about starting the season and participating in such a first-class event."

The format of the tournament will be a round robin tournament for both singles and doubles with play beginning for all teams at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Miami and Alabama will start action at 9 a.m., while Notre Dame and Illinois will close the day with round robin matches beginning at 1:30 p.m.

"In terms of players and competition, this is certainly going to be a challenge with the level of players participating in such a strong field," Dancer said. "We are going to be taking an untested and unproven team up there, but we are going to come out better for it in the end."

The OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite is the only Division I clay court tournament of the year, providing all four teams a chance to face competitive opponents on an unfamiliar surface. In all, seven players in the field are ranked in the top 100 in the Fila ITA preseason tennis poll, while Illinois (5), Notre Dame (6) and Alabama (14) finished the 2007 season ranked in the top 15 in the final ITA polls. Miami finished No. 38.

"Playing on the clay is going to be a nice change for us," 2007 NCAA all-tournament team Marc Spicijaric said. "On the clay, the game is so much slower and forces you to think and construct points. The surface is going to test our endurance and our ability to stay out there for long matches. As far as the tough competition, there is nothing better than starting out the season against quality opponents. This will do nothing but help us down the road."

For complete results and recaps of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational, visit fightingillini.com and the official tournament web site located on the men's tennis front page by clicking on the tournament logo link.

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI PREVIEW
The Illini, who shocked everyone but themselves during their NCAA finals run a year ago, return everyone from their title match team except three-time All-American Kevin Anderson and 2007 graduating senior GD Jones.

Included in the lineup is veteran, two-time All-American and 2006 NCAA doubles champion Ryan Rowe - ranked. No. 9 in the preseason Fila ITA poll. Fellow seniors Brandon Davis and Ruben Gonzales, who will be an integral part of the Illinois lineup but is not participating in collegiate tennis in the fall, join Rowe as the solid leaders.

Rounding out the roster is juniors and NCAA all-tournament team selection Marc Spicijaric - ranked preseason 63rd - sophomores Billy Heiser and Jordan Knue and a talented freshmen contingent of Calon Alpar, Connor Roth and Abe Souza.

The final addition to the Orange and Blue is associate head coach George Husack, who brings with him invaluable ties to the west coast and American tennis players. Husack owns 12 years of Division I collegiate tennis experience, including most recently five seasons as the head coach at Santa Clara University.

FIGHTING IRISH PREVIEW
Slated to face the Illini this weekend at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational will be NCAA round of 16 participant Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are led by returning seniors Sheeva Parbhu, who is ranked preseason No. 30, and Andrew Roth. Parbhu also participated in the NCAA singles tournament in 2007, but fell to eventual NCAA champion Somdev Devvarman in the first round.

Also filling the rankings for the Irish is No. 66 Brett Helgeson, a junior and integral part to the Irish, who came just short of advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals last season after a 4-3 loss to USC in the Round of 16.

The Fighting Irish, who perused the top 10 the entire 2007 season, will need to fill the shoes left open by 2007 graduating senior and All-American Stephen Bass to again be among the top teams in the country.

Notre Dame's lineup for the weekend includes Parbhu, Roth, Helgeson and fellow junior Santiago Montoya, sophomore Sean Corrigan and freshmen David Anderson, Tyler Davis, Dan Stahl, Stephen Havens and Matt Johnson.

ND returns Parbhu as the only player to participate in the NCAA singles tournament in 2007, but are still a favorite to open the 2008 season in the top 20 after finishing 2007 with a 26-4 record.

MIAMI HURRICANES PREVIEW
Head coach Mario Rincon, who is eager to continue the success Miami has enjoyed in recent years, leads the Hurricanes. Rincon's squad for the weekend includes All-American Dani Vallverdu, Carl Sundberg, David Rosenfeld, Vivek Subramanian, JC Whitner, Hector Nieto, Barni Carrega and Westin Wendt.

Vallverdu, ranked preseason No. 19 and the second-highest ranked player in the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite field, leads the young Hurricanes who have only one senior on the squad, Subramanian.

The Hurricanes, who started off the season ranked in the top 15 a year ago, qualified for the USTA/ITA National Men's Tennis Indoor Championships hosted by Illinois. The event pitted the top 16 teams in the country for the only indoor championship of the year. Miami finished the year 11-14 in 2007.

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE PREVIEW
Alabama is coming off its best season in recent years after posting a 22-8 overall record and advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for only the fifth time in program history, the first since 2003. Bama is led by SEC Co-Coach of the Year Billy Pate, who shared the honor with Manuel Diaz, head coach of 2007 NCAA Champion Georgia.

The Crimson Tide are led on the court by preseason ranked No. 42 Billy Mertz and No. 97 Mat Thibaudeau. Including being ranked in the top 50, Mertz is coming off a round of 16 performance at NCAAs last year.

Alabama, who was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by 2004 national champion Baylor, strung together a nice run through the NCAA tournament that included knocking off ACC powerhouse Duke in the second round.

Bama is not lacking in leadership as the roster boasts five seniors combined with four juniors to round out a veteran lineup. Participating in this weekend's clay court tournament will be seniors Javier Bes, Mertz and Sammy Struf, juniors Thibaudeau, Daniel Buikema, Andrew Felsenthal, Sammy Struf and sophomores Houssam Yassine and Saketh Myeni.