Champaign, Ill. – Fighting Illini men's tennis stormed back to beat Virginia 4-3 in their final match of the ITA Indoor Championships. It was the second win on the weekend for Illinois, who upset No.1 USC on Friday night.
"We challenged the guys during the break to show who they are and our guys responded well, they didn't panic," said head coach Brad Dancer. "They dug down and fought all the way through. You can't control wins and losses but you can control how you fight and how you dif. It was a total team effort across the board."
Illinois fell behind early after Virginia grabbed the doubles point. Alex Bancila picked up the first point for Illinois. He beat Gianni Ross (UVA) 7-6 (5), 6-1 on court six.
Virginia went up 3-1 after winning on courts five and one. Illinois went on to win the final three matches of the night.
Freshman Hunter Heck picked up the win on court four defeating def. Ryan Goetz 7-5, 7-6 (5). Siphos Montsi won the third point for the Orange and Blue. He rallied back after losing the first set to defeat Inaki Montes 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Senior Zeke Clark secured the match for the second time this weekend. He scored the deuce point, defeating J Von Der Schulenburg 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-3.
Next Up
The Illini get back into Big Ten competition. They welcome Penn State to Champaign on Friday, Feb. 19 at 6 pm CT.
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