April 18, 2009
Box Score
Ann Arbor, Mich. - The No. 11 Illinois men's tennis team suffered a setback this afternoon in Ann Arbor, Mich., falling 4-3 to the Michigan Wolverines. The Illini fell behind early on, dropping the doubles point and could not recover in singles. After dropping their second straight conference loss, the Illini fall to 18-7 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten.
"If we are going to be successful in the postseason we have to control the tempo and dictate every one of our matches from the start," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "Today we let our opponents control the match on almost every court and we can't let that happen. We are perfectly capable of playing at a higher level than what we performed today."
In doubles, the Illini started out sluggish, as the Wolverines quickly got on the board with a win at No. 3 doubles. The 49th-ranked Illinois duo of Marek Czerwinski and Marc Spicijaric countered, with an 8-5 upset win over Michigans 45th-ranked tandem of Jason Jung and George Navas, at No. 1 doubles. The Wolverines edged out Illinois at No. 2 doubles, to take the crucial doubles point.
The Illini responded in singles as junior Marek Czerwinski got Illinois on the board with a straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Michigan's Chris Madden at No. 4 singles. At No. 1 singles, 48th-ranked Illinois sophomore Roy Kalmanovich, playing some of his best tennis as of late, tallied a straight sets victory over Andrew Mazlin (MICH), 6-4, 6-3.
Michigan got wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles to bring the overall score to 3-2, in the Wolverines favor. At No. 5 singles, Illinois freshman Ruan Roelofse dropped the first set to Michigan's George Navas, 6-3, before edging out the Wolverine in the second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (2). In the third set, Navas (MICH) defeated Roelofse (ILL), 6-3, to clinch the overall match win for Michigan.
Sophomore Waylon Chin wrapped up the afternoon match with a three-set win over Michigan's Drew Daniel, 7-6(2),4-6, 6-4, at No. 6 singles.
The Illini look to rebound tomorrow, April 19, in their final regular-season match against the Michigan State Spartans at 11 a.m. CT. in East Lansing, Mich. A full recap of the match can be found at fightingillini.com at the conclusion of play.
Match Results
April 18, 2009 (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Michigan 4, #11 Illinois 3
Singles
No. 1 -- #48 Roy Kalmanovich (Illinois) d. Andrew Mazlin, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 -- #94 Jason Jung (U-M) d. #68 Marc Spicijaric, 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. #36 Dennis Nevolo, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Marek Czerwinski (Illinois) d. Chris Madden, 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- George Navas (U-M) d. Ruan Roelofse, 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3
No. 6 -- Waylon Chin (Illinois) d. Drew Daniel, 7-6(2),4-6, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #49 Czerwinski/Spicijaric (Illinois) d. #45 Jung/Navas, 8-5
No. 2 -- Madden/Mazlin (U-M) d. Brian Livingston/Roelofse, 8-5
No. 3 -- Peter Aarts/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Kalmanovich/Nevolo, 8-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 4-1-2-3-5-6
