Feb. 26, 2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 13 Illini men's tennis team (4-4) returns to action this Sunday, Feb. 28 for its first match in two weeks and fifth against a top-10 team at No. 6 Florida (7-2) at Noon CT. It also marks the beginning of a challenging stretch of matches next week that continues with home matches against No. 41 Notre Dame (3-5) on Tuesday, and No. 17 Texas A&M (6-2) on Friday, followed by No. 44 Northwestern (6-3) on the road Saturday to open Big Ten play.

"These types of challenges are just what our guys signed up for," head coach Brad Dancer said. "This is why they come to Illinois, to play in tough, difficult matches and test their skills against the best. It's a great challenge to play Florida, especially down there and will be an adjustment for our guys to play their first outside tennis in well over a month. But the biggest challenge is the quality of the Florida squad."

LAST TIME OUT
The Illini finished out their run at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 4-2 victory over Fresno State on Feb. 14, after falling in their two previous matches to Tennessee, 4-0, and Kentucky, 4-3. The weekend was highlighted by junior Abe Souza's 10th straight victory and he was subsequently ranked a career-high No. 57 in the national individual rankings released the following week. Sophomore Dennis Nevolo moved up one spot to No. 42 and senior Marek Czerwinski checked in at No. 113.

FORMER GATORS
First-year assistant coach Marcos Asse and junior transfer Johnny Hamui are both former members of the University Florida men's tennis team. A 2001 graduate, Asse walked on to the tennis team as a freshman and earned himself playing time throughout his career. He was a contributor to Florida's 2000 SEC championship team, posting 21 wins in doubles, which ranks ninth in Florida history for a single season.

Hamui was a two-year letterwinner with the Gators and helped lead the team to the Sweet 16 at the NCAA Championships as a freshman in 2008. Prior to transferring, Hamui was 6-4 in singles and 7-2 in doubles this past fall at Florida and compiled an overall singles record of 31-23 and 31-21 in doubles in two seasons.

SCOUTING FLORIDA
After going 2-1 at the ITA Indoor Championships with victories over then-No. 5 Baylor and No. 7 Georgia, Florida now ranks a season-best sixth in the latest national rankings. The Gators have lost just two matches thus far to then-No. 6 Baylor and No. 2 Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Indoor Championships and are 5-0 at home this season.

Junior Alexandre Lacroix, who is currently ranked 17th in the nation, leads the team with an overall record of 21-6 in singles, 6-2 at the No. 1 position and 11-4 against ranked opponents. In doubles, Lacroix and teammate senior Antoine Benneteau check in at No. 10 after extending their winning streak to 11 straight matches and are 20-1 overall. Benneteau is 8-0 in dual matches at the Nos. 3-5 positions, while several different players have contributed to the Gators' 15-2 dual mark at Nos. 5 and 6 singles.

"I have a lot of respect for Andy (Jackson) and the team he has put together," Dancer said. "They are extremely talented at every position and will force us to play at a high level to be competitive."

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
The Irish have dropped four of their last five matches, including a pair of recent 4-3 defeats at then-No. 25 Washington and No. 36 Michigan. They host a trio of matches this weekend against Michigan State, No. 31 Wisconsin and Toledo before facing Illinois on Tuesday.

Four Irish currently occupy spots in the rankings, including No. 28 Casey Watt, No. 101 Daniel Stahl, No. 105 Blas Moros and No. 123 Stephen Havens. Watt leads the team with 14 overall singles wins, followed by Moros with 11 and Stahl and David Anderson with 10 apiece.

"When we return home, we'll immediately face a dangerous, deep Notre Dame team, followed by two more tough matches within days, so it's an interesting stretch that will test our guys' adaptability and resiliency," Dancer said.

UP NEXT
The squad returns to Atkins Tennis Center on Tuesday to host No. 41 Notre Dame at 6 p.m.