Oct. 7, 2011

Results

TULSA, Okla. - Seniors Dennis Nevolo and Roy Kalmanovich advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships with big wins on Friday, making Illinois the only team with two athletes among the final eight competitors. With their quarterfinal berths, both Illini earned automatic bids to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, which will take place Nov. 3-6 in Flushing, N.Y.

"Dennis really came out of the gates and dialed in on exactly what we talked about before the match," Illini head coach Brad Dancer said. "I don't know if I've ever seen him that focused. It was great, but it was really unfortunate that a player as good as (Guillermo) Alcorta couldn't finish the match and had to stop. He's a phenomenal player and going to be great in college tennis. And Roy again continued to grind out his matches. I love to see the competitiveness that he's bringing to the court. He's going to keep getting better."

Nevolo, No. 7 in the preseason rankings, got out to an early 5-0 lead over Oklahoma's Guillermo Alcorta in his first set. Alcorta was unable to finish the match, however, sending Nevolo to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, No. 71 Kalmanovich battled No. 9 Jose Hernandez of North Carolina, taking a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory, which marked his fifth win over a ranked opponent this week.

In the consolation draw, junior Stephen Hoh took on his third ranked opponent in three matches, falling to No. 62 Andre Dome of Cal Poly, 6-0, 6-3.

"Hoh made some major strides this week," Dancer said. "But we still feel like we've got to get the handcuffs off him and let him swing big. There are two major parts of his game that have improved - his return of serve and his arousal level. As he gets better, he's going to be fantastic and take college tennis by storm."

Nevolo and Kalmanovich will be back in action in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning. Live scoring is available .

All-American Championships - Illini Results

Main Draw - Third Round
#7 Dennis Nevolo (Illinois) def. Guillermo Alcorta (Oklahoma), 5-0 ret.
#71 Roy Kalmanovich (Illinois) def. #9 Jose Hernandez (North Carolina), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

Consolation Draw
#62 Andre Dome (Cal Poly) def. Stephen Hoh (Illinois), 6-0, 6-3