April 19, 2015
Results
MADISON, Wis. - The Fighting Illini Men's Tennis team clinched a share of the 2015 Big Ten Championship Sunday afternoon with a 4-0 victory over Wisconsin in Madison. Illinois (22-4, 10-1) claimed its first regular-season title since 2005, sharing the title with No. 11 Ohio State and Minnesota. Illinois will enter the Big Ten Tournament next weekend in Urbana as the No. 1 seed, having won the seeding tiebreak of total points won against the other tied teams.
"I'm really happy for this group of guys," head coach Brad Dancer said. "They've always wanted to be Big Ten Champions. It's a great accomplishment for them. We still have work to do. We have to get dialed in, focused and ready to make a stretch run. What we did here down the last two weeks is not good enough. We need to be better going into the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Championships."
Illinois earned the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. No. 60 Jared Hiltzik and Tim Kopinski defeated Dodridge/Carranza 8-5 on court one. Farris Gosea and Aleks Vukic earned their seventh straight victory at Illinois' No. 3 singles with an 8-5 victory over Remy/Zordani. Ross Guignon and Aron Hiltzik were up 7-5 on court two when the match was abandoned.
Senior Ross Guignon was first to finish in singles for the Illini. Guignon defeated Michael Sinha 6-1, 6-2 on court six. No. 57 Aleks Vukic got back to his winning ways with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over John Zordani on court five.
The Illini clinched the victory on court three, as No. 56 Tim Kopinski defeated Alexander Kokorev in straight sets 6-1, 7-6(5).
Up next, the Illini will host the 2015 Big Ten Tournament at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana. Opening round action will begin Thursday April 23. The Orange and Blue receive a first-round bye and will take on the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 match Friday morning at 10 a.m.
Full results from today's match can be found below.
Singles
1. #75 Farris Gosea (ILL) vs. Josef Dodridge (WIS) 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
2. #23 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) vs. Jakhongir Jalalov (WIS) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished
3. #56 Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. Alexander Kokorev (WIS) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
4. #64 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) vs. Jose Carranza (WIS) 6-4, 1-4, unfinished
5. #57 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. John Zordani (WIS) 6-4, 6-2
6. Ross Guignon(ILL) def. Michael Sinha (WIS) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. #60 Jared Hiltzik/Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. No. 76 Josef Dodridge/Jose Carranza 8-5
2. Aron Hiltzik/Ross Guignon (ILL) vs. Jakhongir Jalalov/Thomas Pitra 7-5, unfinished
3. Farris Gosea/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Lamar Remy/John Zordani 8-5
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6, 5, 3)
