April 16, 2011
Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Illini men's tennis team (13-8, 5-2 Big Ten) fought off Michigan (11-9, 4-4) Saturday afternoon to claim its third straight win and in conference play. Sophomore KU Singh clinched the victory at the No. 3 spot to collect his first-career Big Ten win.
"The leadership of (seniors) Johnny Hamui and Abe Souza was outstanding today," head coach Brad Dancer said. "It was impeccable during doubles and during singles, they played great mental matches. I'm very proud of their leadership. It carried us through. KU didn't have the prettiest match, but he was able to fight off a match point and did a good job battling."
Illinois debuted three new doubles teams in Big Ten play, with junior Dennis Nevolo and redshirt freshman Brian Alden earning the first win of the day, 8-4 over Alex Buzzi and Chris Madden. The Wolverines evened the score before the 75th-ranked tandem of Hamui and Souza secured the point with an 8-6 win over Evan King and Chris Cha at the No. 1 spot.
Michigan got off to a fast start in singles, taking four first sets and with wins at the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, took a 2-1 advantage for the match. That would be it for the Wolverines, however, as No. 72 Souza notched the first singles victory of the day, his 20th of win of the season, to even the score. No. 119 Hamui collected his 13th victory of the year to give the Illini the lead back at 3-2, before Singh rallied back to defeat Shaun Bernstein, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, to clinch the win. Sophomore Stephen Hoh closed out the afternoon with a come-from-behind victory of his own, as he topped Chris Madden, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3), for his 22nd win of the year.
The Illini are back in action Sunday at Michigan State at 11 a.m. CT for their final road match of the regular season.
Match Results
#17 Illinois 5, #27 Michigan 2
Singles competition
1. #24 Evan King (UM) def. #11 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) 6-2, 6-1
2. #51 Jason Jung (UM) def. Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) 6-3, 6-3
3. KU Singh (ILL) def. Shaun Bernstein (UM) 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
4. #119 Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. Barrett Franks (UM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
5. #72 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Chris Cha (UM) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
6. Stephen Hoh (ILL) def. Chris Madden (UM) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles competition
1. #75 Johnny Hamui/Abe Souza (ILL) def. Evan King/Chris Cha (UM) 8-6
2. Jason Jung/Shaun Bernstein (UM) def. KU Singh/Stephen Hoh (ILL) 8-6
3. Brian Alden/Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. Alex Buzzi/Chris Madden (UM) 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,2,5,4,3,6)
