April 22, 2009
Complete Big Ten Tournament Notes in PDF Format 
#14 Illinois at 2009 Big Ten Tournament
April 23-26, 2009 (ANN ARBOR, MICH.)
Quarterfinals
April 24 // Illinois vs. Match 3 Winner // 2 p.m. ET
Semifinals - April 25
Finals - April 26
FOR OPENERS
The University of Michigan will host the 2009 Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament this weekend with matches beginning on Thursday, April 23, and continuing through Sunday, April 26.
The opening day of the tournament will feature six schools with No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 9 Iowa leading off at 9 a.m. ET. Sixth-seed Indiana will then battle No. 11 Michigan State at Noon ET. To conclude the opening round, No. 7 Penn State will face No. 10 Purdue at 3 p.m. ET.
Each of the top five teams receives a first-round bye and will start tournament play on Friday. No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Illinois and No. 3 Minnesota will play the winners of Thursday's matches, while No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Northwestern will face off in the other quarterfinal match.
Ohio State (10-0, 28-1) ranks No. 3 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and will look for its fourth-consecutive Big Ten Tournament title this weekend. The Buckeyes claimed the tournament's top seed for the fourth straight year after capturing the Big Ten regular season title last weekend. The Scarlet and Gray have recorded 49 consecutive victories against Big Ten opponents and are currently 100-5 in their last 105 conference matches, including postseason play. Individually, OSU's Bryan Koniecko is ranked third, and teammates Steven Moneke and Justin Kronauge are ranked ninth and 25th, respectively, in the nation by the ITA.
In last year's event, Ohio State rallied to overcome a late 3-2 Illinois lead to defend its 2006 and 2007 Big Ten Championships titles with a 4-3 win. This year, the No. 2-seed Fighting Illini will be led by Roy Kalmanovich and Marc Spicijaric who are currently ranked No. 50 and No. 75, respectfully in singles play by the ITA. In all, 13 Big Ten athletes are ranked in the ITA top-125 singles, 11 pairs rank in the top-80 doubles and nine teams fall in the top-65 squads in the nation.
NATIONAL TELEVISION COVERAGE
This year's event will be broadcast nationally by the Big Ten Network. The network will air the championship match on tape delay on Sunday, May 3, at 6 p.m. ET.
STATE OF THE ILLINI
Illinois (19-7,8-2) heads into the Big Ten Tournament with a No. 14 ranking in the most recent Campbell's/Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll released on April 21. The Illini have won six of their last eight matches, and finished the regular season on a high note with a 6-1 defeat of the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing.
The Illini will face the winner of the #7 Penn State/#10 Purdue match in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Big Ten Tournament on Friday, April 24 at 2 p.m.ET/1 p.m. CT.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
Individually, the Illini boast three players in the singles rankings with freshman Dennis Nevolo topping the charts at No. 38, followed by sophomore Roy Kalmanovich (No. 50) and senior Marc Spicijaric (No. 77).
In doubles, the Illini have three tandems in the standings with the freshmen duo of Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse coming in at No. 25, followed by the veteran tandem of Spicijaric and junior Marek Czerwinski at No. 38. Czerwinski, when pairing up with junior Billy Heiser, ranks No. 63 in the Campbell's/ ITA doubles rankings.
GIMME FIVE
Three Illinois athletes have garnered five weekly conference accolades thoughout the season. Freshman Dennis Nevolo and senior Marc Spicijaric have each been honored twice, while junior Marek Czerwinski was also tabbed Big Ten Player of Week once.
Nevolo picked up his first career conference award back at the beginning of the season as he led the Illini charge at the University of South Florida Invitational. The team grabbed a total of 19 singles wins and eight doubles wins in a field that featured individuals from Florida A&M, Florida State, No. 40 South Florida, and Memphis. Individually, the No. 41-ranked Nevolo was a perfect 4-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. The Gurnee, Ill., native was recently honored for the week ending April 12. The 36th-ranked Nevolo went a combined 6-0 with a string of tough matches against No. 14 Kentucky, Penn State, and No. 3 Ohio State.
The lone four-year senior Marc Spicijaric picked up his second weekly laurel of the season after going 4-0 in doubles and 3-1 in singles in Illinois' three upset wins over top-15 teams over the course of the week. Spicijaric led the Illini to victories over seventh-ranked Florida, No. 10 Baylor and No. 12 Tulsa, with their only loss coming to No. 4 UCLA in the first round of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.
Czerwinski nabbed the conference laurel for the week ending March 8 after the Birmingham, Mich., native went a combined 4-0 over the weekend helping lead the No. 7 Illini to conference wins over No. 44 Northwestern and No. 19 Wisconsin.
2008 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW
The No. 15 Illinois men's tennis team had the 2008 Big Ten Tournament title in its hands with a late 3-2 lead against No. 2 Ohio State, but the Buckeyes rallied in the end to win the final two singles matches to earn their third straight conference title, 4-3, over Illinois at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex last season. For the first time in seven tries, the Illini secured the doubles point and had a 1-0 lead after wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, but two matches going to decisive third sets in singles were the deciders as the Illini fell to 18-8 overall, while the Buckeyes improved to 32-1.
LAST TIME WHEN - BIG TEN TITLE
2005 was the last time the Illini raised a Big Ten Championship banner at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Illini went 25-4 during the season and 10-0 in conference play. The Big Ten Conference awarded the Illini with various awards, including Coach of the Year to Craig Tiley, Athlete of the Year to Ryler DeHeart and Freshman of the Year to Kevin Anderson. Anderson, DeHeart and GD Jones were unanimously voted All-Big Ten. On a national level, Anderson and DeHeart were named All-Americans.
That same year, the Illini advanced to the Round of 16, losing to Florida State, 4-2. DeHeart became only the second unseeded player in the last 10 years of the 26-year history of the ITA National Indoor Championships to win the singles title. He was the first Illini to ever win the prestigious title. The junior also became the second Illini to ever reach No. 1 in the ITA rankings.
IN THE BOOKS - ILLINOIS VS. PENN STATE
The Illini swept the Nittany Lions 7-0 on April 11 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex. Illinois started the match securing the doubles point with a win from Marek Czerwinski and Marc Spicijaric at No. 1 doubles and a win from Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse at No. 2 doubles. The Illini took a 2-0 lead after Abe Souza quickly won his match 6-1, 6-0. The rest of Illinois followed with victories, and only one match went to three sets. This win put Illinois at 18-5 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten Conference.
REMEMBER WHEN - ILLINOIS VS. PURDUE
Illinois opened the Big Ten season on February 27 with a 4-3 win at home against Purdue. The match started rough for the Illini after losing the doubles point. But Illinois battled back in singles, with wins from Roy Kalmanovich, Billy Heiser, Abe Souza, and Ruan Roelofse who provided the clinching victory. Illinois improved to 9-3 overall, and 1-0 in the conference.
ORANGE AND BLUE AMONG NATIONS LEADERS IN ATTENDANCE
The 2009 ITA attendance race is on and the Illini men are among the leaders in the second annual race. The Illini are fourth in overall total attendance among Division I men's schools, with 3,047 fantastic fans coming to the Illini's first 12 home matches this season. The Fighting Illini's match at Virginia drew 649 fans, placing fifth in single match attendance.
UP NEXT
After wrapping up the Big Ten Tournament, the Illini will learn their NCAA Championships fate on the selection show on Tuesday, April 28 at 4:20 p.m. CT.
