URBANA, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men's tennis team bounced back from an opening-night loss to defeat Texas Tech 4-1 Saturday on the second day of ITA Kickoff Weekend. Seniors clinched four of the five winning matches for Illinois.
The Orange and Blue jumped out to a 1-0 advantage by winning doubles matches on courts 1 and 3. Seniors Zeke Clark and Aleks Kovacevic dealt the first blow with a 6-2 victory, and juniors Alex Brown and Gui Gomes closed out the doubles point with a 6-3 win.
"Today was all about the seniors," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We saw senior leadership on this team today. I think they said 'This is what we're going to stand for and what we're not going to stand for on our home courts.' So I was really proud of all those guys who stepped up and locked it down."
Clark was the first Illini to take a singles match, defeating the Red Raiders' Reed Collier 6-4, 6-0. Kovacevic and senior Vuk Budic put the visitors away in short succession with victories of 6-3, 7-5 and 6-2, 6-3, respectively.
The Illini hit the road for dual matches at Duke and North Carolina this weekend. The Orange and Blue head to Durham for a 5 p.m. CT match Friday and head down the road to Chapel Hill for a 5 p.m. CT match Saturday.
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