April 12, 2009
Box Score
Urbana, Ill. - The No.11 Illinois men's tennis team fell to the No. 3-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 6-1, in a heated Big Ten regular season match at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex on Illinois' Senior Day. The Orange and Blue had a quick setback in doubles to trail early, 1-0, and from there the Illini could not find their rhythm in singles. At No. 3 singles, freshman Dennis Nevolo grabbed a victory for Illinois, upsetting the Buckeyes' 18th-ranked Justin Kronauge.
"Overall, we have to do a better job of closing out our matches," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "As a team we have to learn to focus and deal with our nerves better. We lost matches quickly today and that put pressure on the other guys that they had to win and we can't let that happen. Dennis getting a win at No. 3 singles was a positive for us today, but when we are playing for a Big Ten team title, we have to focus and concentrate in all of our matches."
With the loss, Illinois dropped to 18-6 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten, while the Buckeyes improved to 25-1 overall and 8-0 in the conference.
In doubles, Ohio State got on board quickly, with wins at Nos. 3 and 1 to seal the early lead. At No. 2 doubles, the 18th-ranked Illinois duo of Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse battled with the Buckeyes' Matt Allare and Chase Buchanan. The Illini tandem prevailed in the tiebreaker, 8-7 (7), for their eighth dual victory this season.
It did not get any easier for the Illini in singles play, as the Buckeyes took wins at Nos. 1,4,5,6 to take a 5-0 lead. At No. 3 singles, 39th-ranked Illinois freshman Dennis Nevolo got the Illini on board as he battled to a third-set tiebreak with the Buckeyes 18th-ranked Justin Kronauge (OSU). Nevolo grabbed the first set 6-4, then fell behind in the second set, 2-6. With the overall match decided, the two played out a super-tiebreaker in the third set. Nevolo and Kronauge traded points back and forth, before Nevolo (ILL) closed out the set, 1-0 (11-9).
UP NEXT
The Illini wrap up the regular season with a pair of conference road matches at No. 49 Michigan on Saturday, April 18, followed by a matchup with the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, April 19 in East Lansing. Both matches are set for 11 a.m. CT. starts.
Match Results
#3 Ohio State 6, #11 Illinois 1
April 12, 2009 at Urbana, Ill.
Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex
Singles competition
1. #4 Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. #79 Marc Spicijaric (ILL) 6-4, 6-1
2. #8 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. #42 Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) 7-6 (7-3), 0-3, 1-0 (12-10)
3. #39 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. #18 Justin Kronauge (OSU) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (11-9)
4. #91 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Waylon Chin (ILL) 6-1, 6-1
5. Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. Abe Souza (ILL) 6-1, 6-4
6. #100 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Brian Livingston (ILL) 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-4)
Doubles competition
1. #39 Justin Kronauge/Steven Moneke (OSU) def. #49 Marek Czerwinski/Marc Spicijaric (ILL) 8-5
2. #18 Dennis Nevolo/Ruan Roelofse (ILL) def. Matt Allare/Chase Buchanan (OSU) 8-7 (9-7)
3. Bryan Koniecko/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Waylon Chin/Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) 8-0
Match Notes:
Ohio State University 25-1, 8-0; National ranking #3
University of Illinois 18-6, 7-1; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,5,6,3,2)
