Draws

ATHENS, Ga. - The Illini kicked off their fall tournament schedule over the weekend as freshmen Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik saw their first collegiate competition at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Georgia.

Aleks Vukic made an impressive run to the semifinals, where he was narrowly defeated by Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) 6-4, 2-6, 4-6.

Unseeded entering the tournament, Vukic took care of some ranked players including No. 97 [11] David Biosca (East Tennessee State) 6-1, 7-5 in the round of 32 and No. 17 [3] Nathan Pasha (Gerogia) 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16.

In the quarterfinals, the Sydney, Australia native quickly took care of Nick Papac (Oklahoma) 6-2, 6-2.

"Aleks showed he has big game potential," assistant coach Marcos Asse said. "We just need to shore up some of his finishing abilities and tactical considerations."

Fellow freshman Aron Hiltzik entered the tournament as the 16th seed and reached the round of 16 before losing to Ghilea. Hiltzik defeated William Bushamuka (Kentucky), 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round and Igor Smelyanski (Tennessee) 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3 in the round of 32.

"This was a great learning experience for both Aleks and Aron," Asse said. "Both went in with the expectation of winning the tournament and are disappointed they didn't. Aron has some strides to make in taking care of the details both on and off the court. I know both of them are already thinking about their next tournament and improving on this performance."

The two also teamed up in the doubles draw but fell in the round of 32 to Cole Fiegel and Michael Kay (Georgia Tech) 8-6.

The Illini will next compete as the host team in the Olympia Fields Country Club Fighting Illini Invitational from Sept. 19-21 in Olympia Fields, Illinois.