SEATTLE – The No. 10 Fighting Illini men's tennis team fell to No. 7 UCLA on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Illinois moves to 4-3 overall this season.
After the Bruins secured the doubles point, Illinois earned its first team point on court four with sophomore Zeke Clark's 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 58 Logan Staggs. UCLA regained the lead with a win at the No. 3 position. Senior Aron Hiltzik pushed the match to two-all with his 6-3, 7-5 win over Evan Zhu. In the end, the Bruins were able to secure match victories on courts six and one to seal the win.
Up next, the Illini will face the No. 15 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday morning at 11 am CT.
Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts
"UCLA played better than us today. Watching the match unfold, I knew there were a few things we could do to prepare better. Our guys always play hard but we just have to execute better and that is on the coaching staff. We have to make sure that we are covering everything when we prepare.
We have enough good players to contend for this tournament, so this was a bitter pill to swallow no question. Having said that, this will be an important afternoon in how we refocus for the remainder of the tournament."
Final Results
#7 UCLA 4, #10 Illinois 2
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 3*
- Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. #40 Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) 6-3
- Clark/Kovacevic (Illinois) vs. Rapp/Smith (UCLA) 5-4, unf.
- Cressy/Pereira (UCLA) def. Brown/Chakravarthi (Illinois) 6-3
Singles-Order of Finish: 4, 3, 2, 6, 1*
- #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #46 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
- #69 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. Evan Zhu (UCLA) 6-3, 7-5
- #107 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Alex Brown (Illinois) 7-6(8), 6-3
- Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. #58 Logan Staggs (UCLA) 6-2, 6-4
- Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) vs. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) 7-6(3), 6-6, unf.
- Connor Hance (UCLA) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (Illinois) 6-3, 7-5
Records: Illinois (4-3) | UCLA (9-1)
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