First Serve: Illini Travel to Michigan for Final Regular Season Road Series
The Illinois Fighting Illini travel to the State of Michigan for a pair of weekend matches against the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans. On Saturday, Illinois will compete against No. 14 Michigan at 9:30 a.m. CT at the Varsity Tennis Center. In the second contest of the weekend, Illinois will take on Michigan State Spartans at 11 a.m. from the MSU Outdoor Tennis Center. Michigan State is the alma mater of Illinois head coach Brad Dancer.
Last Time Out: Illini Earn Sweep of Huskers
The Fighting Illini men's tennis team swept the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 4-0 on Sunday afternoon. The freshmen duo of Zeke Clark and Aleks Kovacevic blanked the Nebraska pair of Samardzija and Klousia on court two. Junior Aleks Vukic and freshman Vuk Budic clinched the point for Illinois by way of a tiebreak. Down 5-3 to Nebraska, the Illini brought the match to 6-all and eventually won the tiebreaker 7-3. In singles action, Vukic was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Toby Boyer at the No. 1 position. The Illini junior moves his singles winning streak to 15 matches. Redshirt-sophomore Pablo Landa gave Illinois a 3-0 advantage with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court six over Rob Krizaj. Freshman Noe Khlif clinched the Illini sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Antoljak at the No. 3 position.
Vukic Earns Program-Best Fourth B1G Weekly Tennis Honor
Fighting Illini junior Aleks Vukic was named the B1G Tennis Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. The Sydney, Australia native earned the award after completing a perfect 4-0 weekend, where Illinois earned two victories over B1G opponents. Vukic is currently riding a 15 match winning streak, good for the fifth-longest streak in program history. The four weekly honors is the most an Illini has earned in a single season in program history.
Freshmen Focus
The Fighting Illini opened the 2017 season with five freshmen in the starting lineup. Vuk Budic competed in doubles with junior Aleks Vukic. Gui Gomes, Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic and Noe Khlif started on courts three through six in singles. With six freshmen, Illinois has the largest number of freshmen in the Big Ten and the only school in the conference to start five freshmen on opening day.
Hiltzik Named Big Ten Tennis Player of the Week
Aron Hiltzik was named the Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday, Jan. 16. Hiltzik was coming off a strong performance at the MLK Invitational in Atlanta, where he tallied a perfect 3-0 record against three ITA-ranked opponents.
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