March 1, 2009

Box Score

URBANA, Ill. - The No. 11-ranked Illinois men's tennis team won its fifth and sixth consecutive matches in a row today, with wins over Northern Illinois and Saint Louis University at the Atkins Tennis Center. With the two 4-0 victories, the Illini are now 11-3, 1-0 on the season.

"We definitely improved as the weekend went on," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Friday's win over Purdue was not a highlight for our season and we challenged the guys to come out fired up today. The guys showed major improvements over the course of this weekend and we were able use our depth and get everybody in the lineup."

In the first match of the day against the Northern Illinois Huskies, the Illini started off a little slow in doubles, but found their rhythm later on securing the early advantage with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. At No. 2 doubles, the sophomore duo of Roy Kalmanovich and Abe Souza took an 8-4 win over the Huskies' Shaun Stewart and Matt Hansen. The Fighting Illini clinched the point when the tandem of sophomores Waylon Chin and Connor Roth downed NIU's Adnan Sose and Javier Bernabe at No. 3 doubles.

In singles, Roth picked up his second win of the weekend at No. 5 singles, defeating Javier Bernabe in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. In the No. 6 slot, Chin added to the Illini total with another straight sets victory over Adnan Sose, 6-4, 6-0. Souza polished off the win for the Illini with his third win on the weekend at No. 4 singles. Souza dominated NIU's Shaun Stewart 6-2, 6-2.

In the nightcap match against the Saint Louis Billikens, the Illini rolled to another victory on the day. In doubles, the Orange and Blue notched victories at Nos. 2 and 3 to take an early 1-0 advantage.

In singles, senior Brian Livingston got the ball rolling as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over SLU's P.J. Hendrie at No. 3 singles. Not much longer after that, sophomore Waylon Chin earned his second victory on the weekend with a straight sets 6-2, 6-2 win over the Billiken's Adam Reeb.

Closing out the weekend, junior Meedo El Tabakh notched the clinching win at No. 2 singles. El Tabakh downed James McArthur (SLU) 6-2, 6-1 to give the Illini its fourth victory on the weekend.

UP NEXT
The Illini remain at home next weekend, hosting Northwestern (3/6) and Wisconsin (3/7). Both matches are set for 6 p.m. starts at the Atkins Tennis Center.

Northern Illinois vs. University of Illinois
3/1/2009 at Urbana, Ill.
(Atkins Tennis Center)
#11 University of Illinois 4, Northern Illinois 0

Singles competition
1. #90 Billy Heiser (ILL) vs. Jurica Grubisic (NIU) 6-2, 1-4, unfinished
2. #110 Marek Czerwinski (ILL) vs. Pawel Poziomski (NIU) 6-4, 0-5, unfinished
3. Ruan Roelofse (ILL) vs. Matt Hansen (NIU) 6-1, 4-3, unfinished
4. Abe Souza (ILL) def. Shaun Stewart (NIU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Connor Roth (ILL) def. Javier Bernabe (NIU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Waylon Chin (ILL) def. Adnan Sose (NIU) 6-4, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Ruan Roelofse/Meedo El Tabakh (ILL) vs. Jurica Grubisic/Pawel Poziomski (NIU) 4-5, unfinished
2. Roy Kalmanovich/Abe Souza (ILL) def. Shaun Stewart/Matt Hansen (NIU) 8-4
3. Waylon Chin/Connor Roth (ILL) def. Adnan Sose/Javier Bernabe (NIU) 8-3

Match Notes:
Northern Illinois 5-3
University of Illinois 10-3, 1-0; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,6,4)

St. Louis vs. University of Illinois
3/1/2009 at Urbana, Ill.
(Atkins Tennis Center)
#11 University of Illinois 4, Saint Louis 0

Singles competition
1. Ruan Roelofse (ILL) vs. Ken Nordheim (SLU) 7-5, 0-1, unfinished
2. Meedo El Tabakh (ILL) def. James McArthur (SLU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Brian Livingston (ILL) def. P.J. Hendrie (SLU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Abe Souza (ILL) vs. Sean McManus (SLU) 6-4, 5-1, unfinished
5. Connor Roth (ILL) vs. Bryan Beasley (SLU) 7-6 (8-6), 2-0, unfinished
6. Waylon Chin (ILL) def. Adam Reeb (SLU) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Roy Kalmanovich/Abe Souza (ILL) vs. Ken Nordheim/James McArthur (SLU) 3-4, unfinished
2. Brian Livingston/Waylon Chin (ILL) def. Sean McManus/Bryan Beasley (SLU) 8-2
3. Meedo El Tabakh/Connor Roth (ILL) def. P.J. Hendrie/Adam Reeb (SLU) 8-2

Match Notes:
St. Louis 5-4
University of Illinois 11-3; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,6,2)