Box Score 

DES MOINES, Iowa – The No. 7 Fighting Illini men's tennis team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 5-2 on Saturday afternoon. Illinois improves to 13-5 overall this season and 4-0 in Big Ten play.

Despite dropping the doubles point, the Orange and Blue came storming back in singles play. Senior Aleks Vukic returned to the lineup and put Illinois on the board with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Piotr Smietana. Sophomore Zeke Clark gave Illinois its first lead of the match after defeating Jonas Larsen, 6-4, 6-4 on court five. Fellow-sophomore Aleks Kovacevic used a come-from-behind, three-set win at the No. 3 position to push the Illini advantage to 3-1. Vuk Budic clinched the Illinois win on court six with a 7-6(8), 6-2 victory.

Up next, Illinois travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, for another noon match on Sunday against the Cornhuskers.

Illini Quotes

"Today, I saw a resilient effort from our guys. Iowa played a good match and pushed us. We had great leadership from Aleks Vukic, Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic today. Also, Alex Brown and Aleks Kovacevic displayed good composure. Those two did not start super, but they restarted things and got better control of the tempo in their match. It is always good to get road wins in the Big Ten. We know we have another challenge tomorrow against Nebraska." – head coach Brad Dancer

Illini Notes

• Illinois has won 24-straight matches against the Hawkeyes. UI's last loss in the series was a 5-2 decision on March 24, 1996.
• Clark has won four-straight singles matches.

Final Results

#7 Illinois 5, Iowa 2

Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 3*

1. Allaf/Larsen (Iowa) def. Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) 6-4  
2. Clark/Kovacevic (Illinois) vs. Davies/Smietana (Iowa) 6-6 (3-3), unf.
3. Jacoby/Tyler (Iowa) def. Brown/Chakravarthi (Illinois) 7-6(6)

Singles-Order of Finish: 1, 5, 3, 6*, 4, 2

1. #20 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. Piotr Smietana (Iowa) 6-3, 6-4
2. #59 Alex Brown (Illinois) def. Josh Silverstein (Iowa) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Kareem Allaf (Iowa) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
4. Joe Tyler (Iowa) def. #103 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) 6-7(4), 6-4, 4-0, ret.
5. Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Jonas Larsen (Iowa) 6-4, 6-4
6. Vuk Budic (Illinois) def. Will Davies (Iowa) 7-6(8), 6-2

Records: Illinois (13-5, 4-0) | Iowa (9-10, 1-3)

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