MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Fighting Illini Men's Tennis team fell on the road to Minnesota Friday night, 4-3. Suffering its first conference loss of the season, No. 3 Illinois moves to 21-4 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten.

"Minnesota has very good players and are well coached," head coach Brad Dancer said. "They put on a great event and gave it the feel of a Big Ten Championship match. We had them down in multiple spots ready to close them out. Triple match point and double match point on separate courts to finish the match. Anytime a team fights back from that you have to give them all the credit. Minnesota earned the win. We know we have work to do. It's up to the coaches to prepare the team and be ready for Sunday."

The Illini dropped the doubles point for the first time in the last seven matches with losses on courts one and two. No. 47 Hamburg/Froment defeated No. 60 Tim Kopinski and Jared Hiltzik 8-4 on court one. Ross Guignon and Aron Hiltzik fell on court two to Toledo/Corwin in a tiebreak.

The Illini responded to start singles play taking the first set on four courts, but Minnesota claimed the first singles point with a win on court five. Jack Hamburg defeated No. 57 Aleks Vukic 6-4, 6-4, snapping Vukic's 14-match winning streak.

Illinois would take the next three singles points. No. 64 Aron Hiltzik garnered the first win for the Illini with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Felix Corwin on court four. No. 75 Farris Gosea followed with a 6-4, 6-4 win on court one over No. 21 Leandro Toledo. No. 56 Tim Kopinski gave the Illini the 3-2 lead after he defeated Ruben Weber 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The match would come down to courts two and six with both matches going to a third set. No. 94 Matic Spec defeated No. 23 Jared Hiltzik 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 to even the score at 3-3.

On court six, Blake Bazarnik and Froment played into a third set tiebreak. Mathieu Froment clinched the victory for the Gophers with 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) victory.

Up next, the Illini will look to secure a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with a win on Sunday at Wisconsin. Action is slated for Noon.

Full results from today's match can be found below.

Singles
1. #75 Farris Gosea (ILL) def. #21 Leandro Toledo (MINN) 6-4, 6-4
2. #94 Matic Spec (MINN) def. #23 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
3. #56 Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. Ruben Weber (MINN) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
4. #64 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. Felix Corwin (MINN) 6-2, 6-3
5. Jack Hamburg (MINN) def. #57 Aleks Vukic (ILL) 6-4, 6-4
6. Mathieu Froment (MINN) def. Blake Bazarnik (ILL) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)

Doubles
1. #47 Jack Hamburg/Mathieu Froment (MINN) def. #60 Jared Hiltzik/Tim Kopinski (ILL) 8-4
2. Felix Corwin/Leandro Toledo (MINN) def. Aron Hiltzik/Ross Guignon (ILL) 8-7 (3)
3. Matic Spec/Eric Frueh (MINN) vs. Farris Gosea/Aleks Vukic (ILL) 7-6, unfinished

Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,4,1,3,2,6)