Updated Big Ten Tournament Notes in PDF Format 
April 25, 2009
Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 14-ranked Illinois men's tennis team sailed to a 5-0 win over the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals held Saturday (April 25) at the indoor courts of the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor. The second-seeded Illini claimed the doubles point and captured wins on courts 3, 4, 5, and 6 in singles. The matches on courts three and four ended simultaneously, as both Dennis Nevolo and Marek Czerwinski both claimed wins on their respective courts for Illinois.
"I think we performed better today than we have this year," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "Tomorrow we will have a chance to prove it. I've been asking our guys to go out and play with more of a killer instinct and more of a hunger for the win and today I thought we did a good job of that in singles and doubles. If we keep doing that than we will play better tennis down the stretch."
With the victory, Illinois improved to 21-7 overall and set a date with conference regular season champion and No. 3-ranked Ohio State (31-1) in the Big Ten Tournament finals on Sunday, April 26, at noon ET at the Varsity Tennis Center. Ohio State earned its spot opposite the Illini after handling fourth-seeded Michigan earlier today by a score of 4-1.
Illinois has advanced into the finals every year since 1999 when the conference moved to the current format of 11-seeds and the top-four seeds receiving a bye into the quarterfinals. Illinois looks to battle toward its seventh tournament championship in the last 11 years when it takes on the Buckeyes, who are the three-time defending tournament champions and regular season titlists.
The 24th-ranked Illinois duo of Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse downed Indiana's Jeremy Langer and Santiago Gruter at No. 1 doubles, 8-3, to start off doubles. Indiana got a win at No. 3 doubles, before the 38th-ranked Illini tandem of Marc Spicijaric and Marek Czerwinski took care of business at No. 2 doubles, with an 8-4 victory over IU's Lachlan Ferguson and Stephen Vogl.
In singles, sophomore Abe Souza, playing some of his best tennis as of late, started the Illini off on the right foot, cruising to a straight sets victory over Indiana's Will Kendall on court five, 6-1, 6-2. At No. 6 singles, senior Brian Livingston quickly polished off Stephen Vogl (IU), 6-4, 6-1, to bring the Illini within one match of victory.
The Orange and Blue picked up two simultaneous victories at No. 3 and 4 singles to clinch their third straight match. The quick play of Illinois freshman Dennis Nevolo was too much for IU's Jeremy Langer at No. 3 singles, as Nevolo won the first set 6-2, before bageling Langer (IU) in the second set, 6-0. The focused play of Illinois junior Marek Czerwinski was unstoppable as he notched a straight sets, 6-1, 6-3 win over the Hoosier's Maxime Aremengaud at No. 4 singles.
The second-seeded Illini face the top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament finals tomorrow (April 26) at 12 p.m. ET. The match will be nationally broadcast by the Big Ten Network and will air tape-delayed on Sunday, May 3 at 5 p.m. CT. Live scoring will be available at mgoblue.com.
#14 Illinois 5, Indiana 0
April 25, 2009
Varsity Tennis Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Singles
No. 1 -- #75 Marc Spicijaric (ILL) vs. #103 Lachlan Ferguson (IU), 2-6, 5-2 (unfinished)
No. 2 -- #50 Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) vs. Santiago Gruter (IU), 6-1, 2-4 (unfinished)
No. 3 -- #38 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) d. Jeremy Langer (IU), 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 -- Marek Czerwinski (ILL) d. Maxime Aremengaud (IU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 -- Abe Souza (ILL) d. Will Kendall (IU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 -- Brian Livingston (ILL) d. Stephen Vogl (IU), 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- #24 Nevolo/Ruan Roelofse (ILL) d. Gruter/Langer (IU), 8-3
No. 2 -- Czerwinski/Spicijaric (ILL) d. Ferguson/Vogl (IU), 8-4
No. 3 -- Peter Antons/Aremengaud (IU) d. Meedo El Tabakh/Kalmanovich (ILL), 8-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 5-6-4-3 (Nos. 3 and 4 ended simultaneously)
