Jan. 13, 2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 15 Illini men's tennis team has kept busy this offseason, highlighted by the outstanding doubles play of senior Marek Czerwinski (Birmingham, Mich./Marathon (Fla.)) and sophomore Dennis Nevolo (Gurnee, Ill./Keystone National) during the fall. The duo were ranked second in the country in the first Campbell's/ITA doubles rankings of the year and will lead a talented cast of returners which includes senior Meedo El Tabakh (Tampa, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) and juniors Connor Roth (Lisle, Ill./Benet Academy) and Abe Souza (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University High School).

Joining fifth-year head coach Brad Dancer's squad this season are Bruno Abdelnour (Aleppo, Syria), Brian Alden (Barrington, Ill./Laurel Springs), University of Florida transfer Johnny Hamui (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Saddlebrook Prep), Stephen Hoh (Eaglemont, Victoria, Australia/Distance Education Centre) and Karunuday (KU) Singh (Gurgaon, Haryana, India/National Institute of Open Schooling), in addition to first-year assistant coach Marcos Asse, who joined the staff this past September.

"The team is excited about all of the newcomers arriving and are enthused about building a new foundation for the future," Dancer said. "All of the returning student-athletes showed tremendous improvement this fall based on professional attitudes and a commitment to excellence."

This year's squad will look to secure the program's 13th-straight 20-win season and first Big Ten title in five years. Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Big Ten selection Nevolo will lead the way for the Orange and Blue, after posting an overall record of 28-13 at Nos. 1-3 singles during his freshman campaign. Nevolo finished the season ranked No. 43 nationally in the Campbell's/ITA singles rankings, which he also was ranked at in the first singles poll of 2010.

"Dennis is taking much greater accountability for his overall training and self-management," Dancer said. "Marcos and I are working with him to give him a bit more regimented approach to his training and to help him gain confidence in some of the small nuances of competing. As he expands this base, the skill set he developed as a youngster is allowed to shine through."

Czerwinski stormed on to the scene as well last season, going 20-4 in singles, including a 6-1 mark in Big Ten play in his first season of competition. He also tallied a team-high 23 doubles victories with three different partners and emerged as a key contributor for the Orange and Blue. He was recently ranked No. 12 in the first Midwest regional singles rankings of the season.

"Marek is one of those unique student-athletes who absorbs and feeds off all the benefits of the Illinois tennis program," Dancer said. "During his time here, he has become more coachable, accountable and shown tremendous leadership qualities for our team. His aggressive game style is synonymous with his purposeful, driven, focused mindset."

Fellow senior El Tabakh, who was plagued by injuries throughout the fall, also will look to contribute for the Illini after posting a 19-6 record in singles last season.

"Meedo has battled through many obstacles in his time at Illinois, but always seems to come out stronger," Dancer said. "He can possibly be the biggest difference-maker down the stretch for our team, as he can be a set of fresh legs coming in just as the season begins to get lengthy. As Meedo commits to getting into playing shape early in the semester, he can move right in and be a huge boost for us as we move outdoors."

Rounding out the returners are Roth and Souza, who saw a substantial amount of matches this past fall. Roth finished the season with an overall singles record of 9-6 and 6-2 in doubles.

"Connor's effort since the end of last season should give him a tremendous confidence boost heading into this year's dual matches," Dancer said. "He is still learning exactly how the variety of his weapons can enable him to play a counter-attacking style where his speed and versatility will allow him to shine, but the mental strides he is making will allow him to play with a more confident swagger in crunch time."

Souza will look to pick up where he left off last season, after recording a career-high 23 wins in singles, including 10-4 in dual play. He checked in at No. 16 in the first Midwest regional singles rankings this season.

"This can be a great season for Abe to build a more complete game," Dancer said. "He's put so much effort into enhancing his all-court skills. Now he just needs the match play to gain continued experience in how to implement those shots in the right situations."

The five fresh faces in the lineup will look to make an immediate impact for the Illini, as Dancer has added a wealth of talent in Abdelnour, Alden, Hamui, Hoh and Singh.

"Stephen (Hoh) has the weapons to engage against the best in college tennis, but will have to improve his consistencies of executions to jump to that elite level," Dancer said. "Johnny (Hamui) has already displayed success in the tough SEC and this fall, he demonstrated he is ready to make that transition toward the upper echelon of college rankings. We'll look at Brian's progress throughout the first month and make a final decision on whether to utilize a redshirt season for him. KU brings a high-energy personality, playing experience and a strong foundation to keep building his game around. Bruno brings a tireless work ethic to our squad and a commitment to improving. He possesses international playing experience which will help in some of the stickier situations we face throughout the season."

New to the Illinois coaching staff is Asse, who had spent the previous five years as an assistant coach and associate head coach at William and Mary. During his time there, he helped lead the Tribe to NCAA tournament appearances in 2005 and 2007, a Colonial Athletics Association title and their highest ranking ever in 2007.

"Marcos brings a unique teaching style to our program," Dancer said. "His ability to understand the complexities of the game but communicate in a simplistic manner is a powerful tool in working with our student-athletes. He has tremendous passion for life, sport and the relationships with his students, and has already made huge strides with our guys, particularly in technical areas such as the serve and in the mental aspects of managing match play."

The Illini will open the season ranked No. 15 in the first team rankings of the season and will face eight non-conference opponents ranked in the top 20, including No. 2 Virginia (1/22) to begin the dual portion of its schedule, in addition to No. 5 Tennessee (2/7), No. 9 Stanford (3/23), No. 11 Florida (2/28), No. 12 Texas A&M (3/5), No. 14 Kentucky (4/7), No. 17 Pepperdine (3/27) and No. 19 Duke (2/5).

"Because of the strength of our schedule, we will, as always, face significant challenges immediately and throughout the season," Dancer said. "That is why our student-athletes choose Illinois. They come to compete for and against the best of college tennis."

Nine Big Ten schools, including No. 3 Ohio State, No. 15 Illinois, No. 31 Minnesota, No. 32 Wisconsin, No. 33 Michigan, No. 47 Northwestern, No. 48 Indiana, No. 54 Penn State and No. 60 Iowa, were ranked in the top 75 to start the season, providing yet again a challenging conference season.

"As I've always alluded to, we are blessed and cursed at the same time with the strength of our schedule," Dancer said. "From the looks of this fall, the Big Ten just continues to improve across the board, and then you add on a handful of teams ranked in the top 20 nationally and our players will have all the challenges they desire."

The Big Ten Championships will take place April 29-May 2 on the campus of Indiana University, while the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament will get underway May 14-15, followed by the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., May 20-31. The Illini will be seeking their 15th-straight NCAA tournament appearance and ninth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16.

"Overall, the returners, staff and our entire Illini family are looking forward to seeing how this team can develop in a rapid fashion," Dancer said. "We know we have tremendous work cut out for us, but there's an excitement to how we can face the strength of our schedule and have some new guys step up and play big roles."