Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois men's tennis fell to the University of Kentucky, 4-0 on Friday night at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Illini move to 6-4 overall this season.
Doubles action began with juniors Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic defeating Kentucky's No. 33-ranked pairing of Pennington and Wallart, 6-2 on court one. However, the Wildcats would take the point with wins on courts two and three. Freshmen Zeke Clark and Gui Gomes fell to Matsumura and Yates, 6-4 on three. Kentucky's Bushamuka and Ellefsen would clinch the point, 7-5 on two over redshirt-senior Alex Jesse and freshman Aleks Kovacevic.
In singles play, redshirt-senior Julian Childers fell to Pennington, 6-2, 6-1 on court three. Kentucky's Ellefsen defeated Gomes, 6-4, 7-5 at the No. 4 position. Yates clinched the sweep for the Wildcats with a 7-5, 6-2 win on court six over freshman Noe Khlif.
Up next, the Illini will take on the Ball State Cardinals and Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday in West Lafayette, Ind. The matches are scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts
"This was an embarrassing loss for our team and our program tonight. We certainly had a goofy situation with the multiple crowd penalties, when it felt like we were in a winning position during doubles. I think that sucked the life and energy out of the atmosphere a little bit, because no one had any idea what was going on. At the same time, that is an unfortunate situation and you really expect us to respond. Clearly tonight we did not do that.
Typically, this is a very difficult place (Atkins Tennis Center) to come and play, especially when teams are trying to win here. This was not indicative of where we want to be as team. The team talked about it and the coaches will have to continue to look at things, but the bottom line is this is just not Illinois tennis."
Final Results
#21 Kentucky 4, #19 Illinois 0
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
- Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) def. #33 Pennington/Wallart (UK) 6-2
- Bushamuka/Ellefsen (UK) def. Jesse/Kovacevic (Illinois) 7-5
- Matsumura/Yates (UK) def. Clark/Gomes (Illinois) 6-4
Singles-Order of Finish: 3, 4, 6
- #23 Hiltzik (Illinois) vs. #35 Bushamuka (UK) 6-3, 4-6, unf.
- #29 Vukic (Illinois) vs. Matsumura (UK) 3-6, 4-4, unf.
- Pennington (UK) def. Childers (Illinois) 6-2, 6-1
- Ellefsen (UK) def. Gomes (Illinois) 6-4, 7-5
- Kovacevic (Illinois) vs. Wallart (UK) 6-2, 2-6, 2-1, unf.
- Yates (UK) def. Khlif (Illinois) 7-5, 6-2
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