Feb. 15, 2008

Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash. - The No. 11 Illinois men's tennis team jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead against No. 6 USC but could not hold on in a 4-1 loss in the opening round of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship at the Seattle Tennis Center tonight. Illinois gained the early edge with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles to clinch the doubles point, but a feisty and strong singles lineup for the Trojans proved too much for Illinois to overcome.

"Our guys played really hard today and I am proud of them," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We battled and made USC work for every match. Ruben, Ryan and Waylon all played tough, and all three of their matches went to three sets, so in that sense, our effort was great. Today's match was a competitive one, much like what we faced last year at the Championship. Now we have to put this behind us and prepare for tomorrow."

With the loss, Illinois dropped to 3-3 on the year, while the Trojans have won their eighth straight match of the season and improved to 8-0 on the season. Today's loss also marked the first time the Illini have not advanced to the quarterfinals at ITA Indoors since 2001 and snapped a six-match winning streak in ITA Indoor openers.

With the match on the line, a solid and deep USC lineup in singles is what made the difference. The Trojans began their uphill climb back into the match with a straight-sets victory at No. 3 singles, and then had to work for every point in three-set wins on courts Nos. 1, 2 and 5 before putting the Illini away.

"The freshman has a good match today," Dancer said about the efforts of his youngsters. "Abe got the start today and was playing tough at No. 6 singles. For Waylon, he ended up dropping a tough three setter, but showed a lot of poise and toughness."

This is the first time the Illini and Trojans have faced each other in a championship setting since their first meeting in the 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals. Southern California has now evened the overall series mark at 3-all.

Illinois now will face No. 14 Boise State in its first-round consolation match tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. CT, 2:30 p.m. local, at the Seattle Tennis Center. The Broncos were first-round losers to No. 3-ranked and seeded Ohio State earlier today, 4-0.

"Boise State is a really good team and we will have to come out prepared for them," Dancer said about his second-round opponent. "They are going to be coming off a hard loss to Ohio State and will be looking to rebound and get a win, just like we will. However, we will come out gunning for them and will need to take care of business to get the win."

The 2008 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship can be followed through live scoring (Both locations) and video (Only at Nordstrom Tennis Center) that is available at the tournament official web site at [http://gohuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/08-ita-indoors.html] by clicking on the "Live Video or Live Scoring" links on the left hand side of the page. The tournament's live scoring and video is provided to fans free of charge, and will update continuously throughout the day and match.

A full recap of the Illini's match against the Broncos will be available on the official home of Illinois men's tennis, fightingillini.com, at the conclusion of the match on Saturday night.

#6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 4, #11 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1
2/15/2008 AT SEATTLE, WASH. (SEATTLE TENNIS CENTER)

Singles competition
1. #9 Robert Farah (USC) def. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) - 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
2. Kaes Van't Hof (USC) def. #15 Ryan Rowe (ILL) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
3. Jaak Poldma (USC) def. #70 Billy Heiser (ILL) - 6-0, 7-6(2)
4. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) led #43 Gary Sacks (USC) - 3-6, 6-3, 5-4 DNF
5. Abdullah Magdas (USC) def. Waylon Chin (ILL) - 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
6. Jason McNaughton (USC) led Abe Souza (ILL) - 4-6, 7-6(*), 4-1 DNF

Doubles competition
1. Brandon Davis / Ruben Gonzales (ILL) led #2 Robert Farah / Kaes Van't Hof (USC) - 8-7 DNF
2. #36 Ryan Rowe / Billy Heiser (ILL) def. Andrew Piotrowski / Jaak Poldma (USC) - 8-4
3. Waylon Chin / Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Gary Sacks / Jack Levis (USC) - 9-8(7)

(*) Tiebreak score not available at time of release

Match Notes
University of Illinois (3-3), National Rankings - 11
USC (8-0), National Ranking - 6
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3, DNF); Singles (3, 1, 5, 2)

A GLANCE AT THE BRONCOS
No. 37-ranked Boise State brings four athletes into the match-up who are ranked in the top-100 in singles play. Junior Clancy Shields holds the No. 19 rank in singles play, while older brother Luke Shields sits at No. 47. Eric Roberson and Brent Werbeck come in at No. 65 and No. 69, respectively. BSU also has one ranked doubles team, Roberson and Paul Koenke, who rank No. 41 in the nation.

Boise State earned their way into the 2008 ITA National Indoor field after owning a top-40 ranking in the country and winning the Mountain Regional Playoffs with wins over No. 70 UNLV and No. 54 New Mexico. Boise State is entering the dual tomorrow on a five-match losing streak despite opening the season 5-0.

ILLINOIS VS. BOISE STATE
Illinois and Boise State will be meeting for the first time since March 20, 1998, when the Broncos stole a 4-3 victory from the Illini on Illinois' home court. The two will meet on the court for only the fourth time in their young series history, with the Broncos winning all three previous meetings.

PRIOR HISTORY
Sophomore Billy Heiser is not stranger to one of the Broncos most prominent singles players, senior Luke Shields. In one of the top Illini fall seasons to kickoff the 2007-08 season, Heiser pulled off his first win of his career over a top-10 player in a straight-sets (6-4, 6-4) victory over then-No. 5 Shields (BSU). In fact, that same weekend, Heiser had one of the best tournaments of his young career, going 3-1 overall, including a win over Shields (BSU) - the 2007 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year - at the Charles Fluitt Invitational and two other ranked foes.

OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT WEB SITE
The 2008 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship is being hosted in Seattle, Wash., by the University of Washington Huskies for the fifth time in the tournament's history. For travel information, further ticker information and prices, driving directions, places to stay and eat and full tournament results and scores, visit the official tournament home page at http://gohuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/08-ita-indoors.html.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The tournament format guarantees every participating institution a minimum of three matches, win or lose. Four matches at both the Nordstrom Tennis Center and Seattle Tennis Club will be played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Match times are 10 a.m. CT (8 a.m. local), 1 p.m. CT (11 a.m. local), 4:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. local) and 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. local). The final is set for a 2 p.m. CT (noon local time) start on Monday, Feb. 18, and will be held at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.