Oct. 15, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois men's tennis team is set to compete at the 2008 Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Championship hosted on the campus of Ohio State University at the Varsity Indoor Tennis Center and Jesse Owens West Recreation Center, Oct. 16-20. Eight Illini will make the trip to the regional championships, with each vying for the regional title in both singles and doubles.
"I'm excited to have a majority of our team back together for this weekend," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "This tournament is a great opportunity to see how our guys perform against the top competition in our region."
Junior Jordan Knue and sophomore Abe Souza will open play in the qualifying bracket of the singles draw, while senior Marc Spicijaric, junior Billy Heiser, sophomores Waylon Chin and Roy Kalmanovich and freshmen Ruan Roelofse and Dennis Nevolo are scheduled for main draw action.
In doubles, Knue and Souza will pair up, while Spicijaric will join with Nevolo and Heiser will team up with Roelofse. The duo of Chin and Kalmanovich rounds out the Illini tandems.
The five-day event features a 64-player singles qualifying draw, which begins on Thursday, Oct. 16. Those 64 players will be competing for eight spots into the main draw, which begins Saturday, Oct. 18. The main draw doubles bracket begins on Friday, Oct. 17.
Seventeen ITA Regional Championships for NCAA Division I men and women are taking place over the next week at campuses throughout the country. The singles finalists and doubles champion from each regional event will earn spots at the 2008 ITA National Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia, Nov. 6-9 in Charlottesville, Va.
Illinois' last regional champion in singles came in 2005 when All-American Ryler DeHeart captured the title, while then-freshman Spicijaric and partner Monte Tucker were the Illini's last doubles champions in 2006. Last season, senior Ryan Rowe advanced to the finals before retiring due to injury against then-No. 13 Justin Kronauge of Ohio State.
Fans can visit itatennis.com or ohiostatebuckeyes.com for results and score updates throughout the tournament, while a full recap of each day's action for the Illini will be available at fightingillini.com
