May 19, 2011

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Lengthy matches plagued the first day of action at the 2011 NCAA Championships on the campus of Stanford University, as the Illini men's tennis team's (18-11) match with top-seeded Virginia (32-0) began over three hours later than scheduled. On a brisk night at Taube Tennis Center, the Cavaliers proved to be too much for Illinois, as they claimed a 4-0 decision to advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round where they will face host No. 8 Stanford.

"Give a lot of credit to Virginia, I think obviously their coaching staff prepared their team better than we did," head coach Brad Dancer said. "They played smarter than us and executed better and if you do those things you're going to win. Those are the two things we need to work on. We have a lot of work to do next year. We lose three really valuable members of our team (Johnny Hamui, Connor Roth, Abe Souza) so we've got a lot of work to do."

Virginia gained the early momentum in doubles and never looked back, taking all six first sets in singles. Sophomore Bruno Abdelnour bounced back to claim his second set just before wins on courts three and four sealed the victory for the Cavaliers. Senior Abe Souza ends his collegiate career with 99 wins, which is tied with Neil Adams for 12th all-time in most career singles wins. Junior Dennis Nevolo led the team with 27 wins and will compete in the NCAA Singles Championships next week.

Match Results
#1 Virginia 4, #17 Illinois 0

Singles competition
1. #5 Michael Shabaz (UVA) vs. #15 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVA) def. KU Singh (ILL) 6-2, 6-2
3. #34 Sanam Singh (UVA) def. #122 Roy Kalmanovich (ILL) 6-2, 6-4
4. #56 Jarmere Jenkins (UVA) def. #81 Abe Souza (ILL) 6-3, 6-2
5. Justin Shane (UVA) vs. #104 Johnny Hamui (ILL) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished
6. Julen Uriguen (UVA) vs. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 6-3, 3-6, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #2 Michael Shabaz/Drew Courtney (UVA) def. #78 Johnny Hamui/Abe Souza (ILL) 8-0
2. Jarmere Jenkins/Julen Uriguen (UVA) def. Brian Alden/Dennis Nevolo (ILL) 8-2
3. Alex Domijan/Sanam Singh (UVA) vs. Stephen Hoh/KU Singh (ILL) 7-2, unfinished

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