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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 11 Fighting Illini men's tennis team rallied from a 3-1 deficit to take down No. 6 Baylor in Waco, Texas in the dual season opener. After two losses to Baylor last season, including one in the NCAA Sweet 16, the 2015 Illini flipped the script with three straight victories by No. 31 Jared Hiltzik, No. 40 Tim Kopinski and No. 44 Aleks Vukic to close out the match.

After Jared's 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over No. 26 Tony Lupieri on court two, all eyes turned to courts four and five to decide the match. The match clincher came down to Illini freshmen Aleks Vukic vs. Mate Zsiega on court five, after Kopinski secured a 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over Max Tchoutakian on court four.

Facing match point in his first collegiate dual match, Vukic held serve with an ace at 40-40 to force a third set tiebreaker. The Sydney, Australia native continued to show grit and ultimately rattled off three straight points to secure a 7-5 tiebreaker and the Illinois victory.

"Vuki [Vukic] works his tail off," head coach Brad Dancer said. "He wants it. Cos did a great job helping to manage through the third set and the credit goes to Vuki for having a calm professional demeanor through out. "I'm super proud of our veteran leadership on court today. Jared, Geezy [Guignon] and TK [Kopinski] set the stage for Vuki's win."

The 4-3 victory over the Bears marks the second win over a top-10 ranked opponent in the last two years, as Illinois took down No. 8 Texas A&M (4-1) last season on Feb. 7.

The Illini found themselves at a disadvantage heading into singles play after dropping the doubles point. Lenz/Galeano took the first doubles match defeating Hiltzik/Hiltzik, 6-1. The Illini responded with a 6-3 victory by Gosea/Vukic on court three, but No. 3 Guignon/Kopinski were not able to close out the point, dropping the match on court 1 to Zsiga/Lupieri, 6-4.

"Doubles we looked shell shocked," Dancer said. "Baylor did a great job of coming after us. In singles there wasn't any beautiful tennis today. Seemed like both sides were getting used to dual match play again."

In singles, Baylor took a 2-0 lead when No. 5 Julian Lenz defeated senior Farris Gosea, 6-4, 6-4, on court one. Senior Ross Guignon then put the Illini on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 121 Felipe Rios on court six. Baylor's last point would come from Diego Galeano who took down No. 62 Aron Hiltzik, 6-3, 7-5, on court three. 

Up next, The Orange and Blue will return to Champaign to open the 2015 home slate at Atkins Tennis Center on Friday Jan 23. to face Green Bay at 3 pm and Ball State at 7 pm.

ILLINI RESULTS

Doubles

No. 1: Mate Zsiga/Tony Lupieri (BU) def. #3 Ross Guignon/Tim Kopinski (ILL), 6-4

No. 2: Julian Lenz/Diego Galeano (BU) def. Jared Hiltzik/Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-1

No. 3: Farris Gosea/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Felipe Rios/Vince Schneider (BU), 6-3 

  

Singles

No. 1. #5 Julian Lenz (BU) def. Farris Gosea (ILL), 6-4, 6-4

No. 2: #31 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. #26 Tony Lupieri (BU), 6-3, 7-6(5)

No. 3: Diego Galeano (BU) def. #62 Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-3, 7-5

No. 4: #40 Tim Kopinski (ILL) def.  Max Tchoutakian (BU), 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3

No. 5: #44 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Mate Zsiga (BU), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)

No. 6: Ross Guignon (ILL) def. #121 Felipe Rios (BU), 6-4, 6-4