April 30, 2011

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - The fourth-seeded Illini men's tennis team (16-10) saw its Big Ten Tournament run come to an end in the semifinals Saturday afternoon in Madison, as top-seeded Ohio State (29-2) claimed a 4-0 decision to advance to the title match and denied the Illini their 16th straight championship appearance.

"It was certainly another disappointing match for us," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We've been brilliant in certain areas, but then lacking in others, so that's been frustrating. The NCAAs are a new season, so a lot can change starting today. We'll see how we recover from this because we're not up to the standard we expect for Illinois tennis. We'll make adjustments and hope to finish as strong as possible."

The Buckeyes have won 78 consecutive Big Ten matches and 130 of their last 136 conference matches, including postseason play.

Illinois will now await its fate for the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Championships scheduled to take place at regional sites, May 13-15. The Division I men's and women's tennis selection announcements will be featured on NCAA.com between 4-5 p.m. CT on Tuesday, May 3.

Match Results
#3 Ohio State 4, #18 Illinois 0

Singles competition
1. #10 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. #14 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) 6-4, 6-2
2. #3 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) 6-4, 6-3
3. #105 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) vs. KU Singh (ILL) 6-4, 4-6, unfinished
4. #47 Matt Allare (OSU) def. #97 Johnny Hamui (ILL) 6-2, 6-2
5. #98 Balazs Novak (OSU) vs. #79 Abe Souza (ILL) 6-1, 3-2, unfinished
6. #74 Devin McCarthy (OSU) vs. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 5-7, 1-3, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #18 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Abe Souza/Stephen Hoh (ILL) 8-4
2. #82 Chase Buchanan/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) vs. Dennis Nevolo/Brian Alden (ILL) 5-5, unfinished
3. Blaz Rola/Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Johnny Hamui/KU Singh (ILL) 8-3

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