April 27, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin is set to serve as host for the 2011 Big Ten Tournament, April 28-May 1, in Madison at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Illinois, which finished fourth in the regular season with a record of 7-3, earned a bye into the quarterfinals and will face fifth-seeded Michigan on Friday, April 29 at 10 a.m. CT.
Six teams will be in action on Thursday, as No. 8 Michigan State and No. 9 Northwestern will square off at 9 a.m. CT, followed by No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 11 Penn State at 11:30 a.m. and rounding out the day will be No. 7 Purdue and No. 10 Iowa at 2:30 p.m.
Along with No. 4-seed Illinois, each of the top-five teams received a first-round bye including top-seeded Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Minnesota and No. 5 Michigan. Ohio State, Indiana and Minnesota will face the winners of Thursday's matches.
Ohio State earned the top seed after claiming its sixth straight regular-season title with a 10-0 mark in conference play. Against the Big Ten, the Buckeyes have won 76 consecutive matches, including the postseason. Illinois fell to Ohio State, 7-0, in the lone meeting of the season on March 27.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Big Ten Network will broadcast the championship match tape-delayed on Saturday, May 7 at 5 p.m. CT. Complete tournament information, including live scoring, is available at http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/B10Champs.html.
BIG TEN IN THE RANKINGS
Three Big Ten teams currently occupy the top 25 in the latest Campbell/ITA national team rankings released Tuesday, including Ohio State at No. 3, Illinois at No. 18 and Minnesota at No. 19. Also making appearances in the rankings are Indiana (No. 26), Michigan (No. 28), Michigan State (No. 50), Purdue (No. 66), Iowa (No. 69) and Wisconsin (No. 71).
Individually, the Big Ten boasts 16 athletes in the top 125 singles rankings and five in the top 50 including Blaz Rola (OSU, No. 3), Chase Buchanan (OSU, No. 10), Dennis Nevolo (ILL, No. 14), Evan King (UM, No. 21) and Matt Allare (OSU, No. 47).
In doubles, the Big Ten makes 10 appearances in the top 90 doubles and five in the top 60 including Buchanan/Rola (OSU, No. 10), Allare/Kobelt (OSU, No. 18), Jung/King (UM, No. 29), Gruter/Langer (IU, No. 45) and Nevolo/Souza (ILL, No. 58).
2010 BIG TEN TOURNAMENT RECAP
Illinois cruised to victories over Iowa and Michigan to advance to the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament for the 15th straight year. The Illini met Ohio State in the title match for the seventh straight year, with the Buckeyes prevailing 4-1 for their fifth consecutive Big Ten Tournament crown.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
The Illini made three appearances in the latest Campbell/ITA national singles rankings released Tuesday, including junior Dennis Nevolo (No. 14) and seniors Abe Souza (No. 79) and Johnny Hamui (No. 97). In doubles, Souza checked in at No. 58 with Nevolo and No. 80 with Hamui.
NET NOTES
*Junior Dennis Nevolo secured his third straight 20-plus wins season, boasting a team-best 25 this year, including a career-high 13 over nationally ranked opponents. He has twice defeated the No. 1 player in the country this season (Tennessee's John-Patrick Smith and Rhyne Williams) and ranked as high as a career-best No. 7 in the ITA singles rankings. Through three seasons, Nevolo has recorded 80 singles wins and 75 in doubles for his career thus far.
*Senior Abe Souza ranks second on the team with 23 wins, bringing his career total to 97, which ranks 13th all-time for most career singles wins as an Illini. He won six straight matches to close out the regular season and finished with a team-best 8-2 mark in Big Ten play.
*Junior Roy Kalmanovich returned to the squad this spring and quickly found his way back toward the top of the lineup. He finished the dual season with 14 wins and played 12 of the final 14 matches at the No. 2 spot. As a sophomore in 2009, Kalmanovich enjoyed a breakout season, leading the team with 30 wins and earned All-Big Ten honors.
*Three Illini have put together their best year yet as Illini, as senior Johnny Hamui and sophomores Stephen Hoh and Bruno Abdelnour each tallied career-high win totals for the season. Hamui has posted 16 wins and has played at Nos. 1-4, while Hoh ranks third on the team with 22 wins and Abdelnour has 13.
TOP-NOTCH COMPETITION
Illinois boasted one of the toughest schedules in the country once again this season, as 11 of the Illini's 24 regular-season opponents are ranked in the current top 25, including No. 1 Virginia (twice), No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Texas A&M (twice), No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 Duke, No. 14 Texas and No. 19 Minnesota. Against the top 25, Illinois went 4-8 with wins over Duke, Kentucky, Florida and Texas A&M.
LAST TIME OUT VS. MICHIGAN - April 16
Illinois fought off Michigan, 5-2, on April 16 in Ann Arbor, as sophomore KU Singh provided the clincher with a win at the No. 3 spot to collect his first-career Big Ten win.
The Illini 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.
FOUR WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Johnny Hamui and junior Dennis Nevolo have each garnered Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors twice this season for the Illini.
Hamui earned the weekly laurel for the week of Jan. 18, following his performance at the Illini Open in Sarasota, Fla., which was highlighted by a victory over 37th-ranked Clint Bowles of Florida State, 6-4, 6-2. The Wesley Chapel, Fla., native did not drop a set all weekend in defeats of Bowles, Blake Davis (Florida State), 6-3, 6-4, and Rafael Garcia (Texas Tech), 6-2, 6-2. He also teamed up with junior Dennis Nevolo to defeat Bowles and Davis, 8-2.
Hamui's second honor came during the week of March 8, after he finished 6-0 in singles and doubles in helping lead Illinois to wins over Ball State, Illinois State and Iowa. Hamui made his season debut at the No. 1 spot and collected all three wins in straight sets as he defeated Dalton Albertin (Ball State), 6-1, 6-3, Timon Reichelt (Illinois State), 6-4, 7-6 (6), and Marc Bruche (Iowa), 6-2, 7-6. In doubles, Hamui teamed up with redshirt freshman Brian Alden for the first time and was victorious in all three matches for the Illini.
Nevolo's first accolade of the season was for the week of Feb. 1, after the Gurnee, Ill., native collected three wins overall at No. 1 singles and doubles in helping lead the Illini to victories over Denver and Notre Dame in the opening rounds of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. He downed No. 25 Enej Bonin (Denver), 6-0, 6-1, before outlasting No. 104 Casey Watt (Notre Dame) the following night, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. In doubles, Nevolo teamed up with senior Johnny Hamui to knock off No. 47 Tyler Davis and Stephen Havens (Notre Dame), 8-1.
Nevolo's second honor was for the week of Feb. 15, after he defeated the fourth-ranked player in the country to clinch the Illini's 4-3 win over No. 7 Florida, in addition to recording a pair of doubles victories over No. 12 Kentucky and the Gators. He teamed up with sophomore Bruno Abdelnour to secure the doubles point over Kentucky's Alex Musialek and Anthony Rossi, 8-6, before topping Florida's Billy Federhofer and Bob van Overbeek, 8-6, the following night. In singles, Nevolo's 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-0, win over the Gators' No. 4 Alexandre Lacroix sealed the victory for the Illini.
