CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illini defeated No. 25 Michigan in a close battle 5-2 on Friday evening. Illinois started winning the doubles point with wins by Montsi/Khlif and Brown/Clark.
"Michigan is well coached, they have great players and so it's a great team win for us," said head coach Brad Dancer. "Super proud of Siphs, Kova and Noé for leading the charge for us. Huge team win. The bench was awesome, the guys were awesome."
Siphosothando Montsi and Noé Khlif defeated Styler/Johnston 6-3 on Court 3 before No. 27 Zeke Clark and Alex Brown defeated No. 23 Fenty/Siimar on Court 1, 7-6(5).
In singles, No. 27 Aleks Kovacevic picked up the first win in No. 1. He defeated No. 124 Andrew Fenty in straight sets (6-3,6-4). Michigan earned a point, winning on Court 6 before Khlif gave the Illini another. Khlif defeated Jacob Bickerstech 6-2,7-5. Michigan then picked up another point after winning on Court 3.
No. 54 Siphos Montsi went down in the first set 2-6 and battled back to win the last two. He defeated No. 50 Ondrej Styler 2-6,6-3,6-3 to clinch the Illini victory.
No. 28 Zeke Clark and No. 109 Mattias Siimar played their match out on Court 4. Clark made Illinois' second comeback of the day. He won on Court 4, Â 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 10-1.
Up Next
The Illini host Michigan State on Sunday at noon.
