No. 17 Illini Top Penn State, 6-1

Men's Tennis April 16, 2010

No. 17 Illini Top Penn State, 6-1

April 16, 2010

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 17 Illini men's tennis team (15-8, 7-0 Big Ten) claimed its third straight victory Friday night, defeating host Penn State, 6-1 to improve to 7-0 in the Big Ten. No. 76 junior Abe Souza tallied his eighth consecutive victory and team-best 29th overall, while No. 37 sophomore Dennis Nevolo clinched the match for the Illini with his 23rd win of the year.

"I thought we did a good job in doubles today, especially (Connor) Roth and (Stephen) Hoh even though they didn't get to finish," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Abe (Souza) and Marek (Czerwinski) led the way in singles and Dennis (Nevolo) keeps making improvements and getting better. Bruno (Abdelnour) put up a good battle, but just caught the short end of it. We have a big match ahead with Ohio State. They're a great team and have a ton of talented players."

Illinois' nationally ranked doubles tandems took care of business early on, as No. 79 Nevolo and junior Johnny Hamui cruised to an 8-0 victory over Ryan Gormley and Taylor Cohen and No. 89 Souza and senior Marek Czerwinski edged Jason Lee and Warren Hardie, 8-6. The Illini carried the momentum over to singles where they claimed five of six matches from the Nittany Lions, all in straight sets.

The Illini return to action on Sunday at No. 2 Ohio State in a battle for first place in the Big Ten.

Match Results
#17 Illinois 6, #61 Penn State 1

Singles competition
1. #37 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) 6-4, 7-5
2. #76 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
3. #64 Marek Czerwinski (ILL) def. Warren Hardie (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Jason Lee (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Stephen Hoh (ILL) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-5)

Doubles competition
1. #89 Marek Czerwinski/Abe Souza (ILL) def. Jason Lee/Warren Hardie (PSU) 8-6
2. Guillaume St-Maurice/Eddie Bourchier (PSU) vs. Connor Roth/Stephen Hoh (ILL) 5-6, unfinished
3. #79 Dennis Nevolo/Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Ryan Gormley/Taylor Cohen (PSU) 8-0

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)

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