March 18, 2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 11th-ranked Illini men's tennis team (7-5, 1-0 Big Ten) looks to extend its winning streak to four straight in a busy stretch that includes four matches in five days beginning with a doubleheader this Friday, March 19 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex. The five-day span includes Ball State (10 a.m.) and Illinois State (3 p.m.) on Friday in the team's first outdoor matches at home this season (weather permitting) and continues at Wisconsin on Sunday, March 21 in a match that will air live on the Big Ten Network at Noon CT. The Illini will then return home for a big match on Tuesday, March 23 against perennial powerhouse and 13th-ranked Stanford at 3 p.m.

"I am looking forward to getting back to competing this weekend and I trust our guys are as well," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Our last stretch of matches was quite intense and paved the way for some recovery time. This week, our guys are regaining focus and slowly each day, I've seen some progressions in attentiveness to details. That's what so much of it is about, executing the basics and then taking care of details."

"As we play the doubleheader on Friday, it is a big challenge because you know you are going to be on court for a long time that day," Dancer said. The tendency is to 'pace' yourself, but the teams we are competing against are good enough that if we do that, we'll be down a set on every court, so it will take good concentration from the beginning for us to be successful on Friday."

Live stats for all home matches will be available . Live stats for the Wisconsin match will be available HERE.

LAST TIME OUT
In a match that lasted just under five hours, the Illini were victorious in their Big Ten opener March 6 at Northwestern. Abe Souza held off Andrew McCarthy to clinch Illinois' third win of the week with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory. It was Souza's third straight win and team-best 19th overall and he also improved to 10-1 this season at Nos. 3-5 singles.

After dropping the doubles point the night before, the Illini took control this time around, as the tandem of junior Johnny Hamui and sophomore Dennis Nevolo topped Alex Sanborn and Spencer Wolf, 8-3. Senior Marek Czerwinski and freshman Stephen Hoh edged Tobias Reitz and McCarthy, 9-8 (3) to secure the 1-0 lead.

For the second straight night, Nevolo cruised to a straight-sets victory in singles, sweeping Wolf, 6-2, 6-1, and Hoh followed suit with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Sanborn. The Wildcats earned their first point of the night at No. 6 singles, before Souza clinched the win. In the final match of the night, Czerwinski needed over two hours to rally back and defeat Joshua Graves, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 1-0 (15-13).

CAMPBELL'S/ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS
Dennis Nevolo moved up to a season-high No. 36 in the latest national singles rankings, while Marek Czerwinski shot up to a career-high No. 64 and Abe Souza checked in at No. 77. In doubles, Nevolo and Czerwinski were ranked sixth, followed by Nevolo and Johnny Hamui at No. 57 and Czerwinski and Stephen Hoh rounded out the group at No. 68.

APPROACHING THE CENTURY MARK
Fifth-year head coach Brad Dancer, who has tallied at least 20 wins in each of his first four seasons, picked up his 97th win at Illinois with the victory over Northwestern on March 6.

FRIDAY'S OPPONENTS
The Illini will open Friday's doubleheader with a Ball State (10-4) squad that has won eight of its last nine matches, though the Cardinals are 0-3 this season against Big Ten opponents (Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan State). Ball State dropped its last outing at UNLV, 6-1 on March 12, which was the team's first loss since a 5-2 defeat at Michigan State on Feb. 6. Junior Eduardo Pavia is off to a solid start at the No. 1 position, having won 10-straight matches for a 10-1 record thus far this season, while newcomers Dalton Albertin (9-3) and Austin Sansone (5-0) have made immediate impacts in the lineup.

Illinois State (7-5) has seen its share of ups and down this season, though it has won three of its last five matches. The Redbirds reached as high as No. 66 in the rankings for the week of March 2, following wins over Butler and Purdue, before dropping to No. 70 after a loss at Indiana. They dropped out of the rankings this week after a splitting a pair of matches last week, including a 6-1 loss at Wisconsin. Top returners include juniors Filip Miljevic (17-10, 5-5 dual), Malej Zlatkovic (19-11, 8-3) and Timon Reichelt (15-11, 6-6).

ALL IN THE FAMILY
There will be at least one familiar face on Ball State's bench, as first-year assistant coach Jeff Nevolo is the older brother of Illinois sophomore Dennis Nevolo.

BIG TEN NETWORK DEBUT SUNDAY
The Illini return to Big Ten action Sunday, March 21 at Wisconsin (10-4, 0-0 Big Ten) for their first televised match of the season at Noon CT. The Badgers have opened the season with a perfect 9-0 record at home and have won three straight. After ranking as high as No. 25, Wisconsin dropped out of the top 25 following three straight losses to nationally ranked Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Notre Dame.

Three Badgers currently occupy the rankings, led by Moritz Baumann (5-3 dual) at No. 13, Marek Michalicka (10-0) at No. 25 and Patrick Pohlmann (7-3) at No. 116. In doubles, Baumann and Michalicka checked in at No. 11, though the duo has played just three dual matches together this spring.

Illinois leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 53-27 and has won 15 of the last 16 matches, including a 4-3 decision last season at Atkins.

"Heading to Wisconsin has always been tough," Dancer said. "They have great players and our team and staff have tremendous respect for their ability, so we know just how difficult this match will be. At the same time, we continue to show great leadership in just how to compete. If we can become a bit more consistent throughout our lineup, not in terms of results, but just focus, then maybe this team can jump into the discussion of the elite teams and I think that will be what it takes. Winning on the road at Wisconsin will take improved consistency throughout the squad."

SIZING UP STANFORD
Illinois will host 18-time NCAA National Champion Stanford on Tuesday, March 23 for the first time since the 2005-06 season. The Illini lead the all-time series with Stanford, 5-4 and have won two of the last three contests, though they lost the last meeting in 2006, 5-2.

"Hosting Stanford, the most successful tennis program in the history of college tennis here, is a special treat," Dancer said. "As usual, they have an outstanding squad, led by a number of all-stars. I can't even begin to describe how much respect I have for Coach Whit and his staff. They are so talented and deep throughout their lineup that they can challenge us at every position. For us to come out on top, we'll have to be finding that competitive zone that hopefully playing four matches in five days can bring."

UP NEXT
The Illini will return to action on Saturday, March 27 at No. 24 Pepperdine at 11 a.m. CT.