No. 4 Illini Cruise Past Ball State, Illinois State

Men's Tennis March 4, 2011

No. 4 Illini Cruise Past Ball State, Illinois State

March 4, 2011

URBANA, Ill. - The fourth-ranked Illinois men's tennis team (8-4) was victorious in non-conference action Friday, defeating Ball State (8-3) in the morning session, 7-0, before topping Illinois State (7-4) in the afternoon, 6-1. As a team, Illinois finished a combined 16-1 in singles and doubles, with five Illini collecting a pair of wins on the day.

"I thought it was a great day for (Johnny) Hamui," head coach Brad Dancer said. "He had some tough matches at the No. 1 position today but I thought he played strong. He did a great job captaining his doubles team as well. Abe and Connor also did a really nice job. It was the day of the seniors. They did a great job with leadership for this team."

Seniors Johnny Hamui, Abe Souza and Connor Roth each posted two wins on the day, as did junior Roy Kalmanovich and sophomore Stephen Hoh, while redshirt freshman Brian Alden picked up his first dual win of the season. Hoh now ranks second on the team with 17 victories overall and is just one shy of his win total from a year ago.

Illinois is back in action on Sunday for its Big Ten opener at Iowa at noon.

#4 Illinois 7, Ball State 0

Singles competition
1. #62 Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Dalton Albertin (BSU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) def. #103 Cliff Morrison (BSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. #65 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Zane Smith (BSU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Stephen Hoh (ILL) def. Alexandre Brym (BSU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Connor Roth (ILL) def. Austin Smith (BSU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Brian Alden (ILL) def. Derek Carpenter (BSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)

Doubles competition
1. Stephen Hoh/Connor Roth (ILL) vs. Zane Smith/Derek Carpenter (BSU) 6-6, unfinished
2. Abe Souza/Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) def. Dalton Albertin/Cliff Morrison (BSU) 8-3
3. Brian Alden/Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Shaun Bussert/Austin Sansone (BSU) 8-3

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

#4 Illinois 6, Illinois State 1

Singles competition
1. #62 Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Timon Reichelt (ISU) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
2. Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) def. Alexander Pelaez (ISU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. #65 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Filip Miljevic (ISU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Stephen Hoh (ILL) def. Matej Zlatkovic (ISU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Tuomas Manner (ISU) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 7-5, 6-2
6. Connor Roth (ILL) def. Juan Varon (ISU) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Stephen Hoh/Connor Roth (ILL) def. #42 Alexander Pelaez/Timon Reichelt (ISU) 8-5
2. Abe Souza/Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) def. Tuomas Manner/Matej Zlatkovic (ISU) 8-6
3. Brian Alden/Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Filip Miljevic/Mya Smith-Dennis (ISU) 9-8 (11-9)