LINCOLN, Neb. – Illini men's tennis will play in tomorrow's Big Ten Championship match after beating Michigan 4-2 in today's semifinals.
"Another good team win for us, I thought the bench was fantastic," said head coach Brad Dancer. "In doubles we came out with great energy, we were so fired up to play but we made some fundamental mistakes against a good Michigan team. We came out for singles and needless to say we were locked in, we won five out-of-six first sets. Even the guys who lost  played a big role in today's win."
The Illini fell down early, losing the doubles point. However they bounced back in singles play with Aleks Kovacevic giving Illinois it's first point. Kovacevic defeated Ondrej Styler 6-4,6-1 on court one.
"Doubles was a little disappointing, so it felt great to be the first one off but in the moment I was just locked in and playing my game," said Kovacevic.
Alex Brown was the next to defeat a wolverine. He won on court three 6-4,6-4 over Patrick Maloney to give Illinois the 2-1 advantage.
"It very really good to get a win up on the board for the guys," said Brown. "We struggled a little bit in doubles but then came out really focused and got points on the board quick."
Siphosothando Montsi gave Illinois the 3-1 lead after defeating Andrew Fenty 6-2,6-3.
"I was locked in, I was trying not to think back on losing doubles or getting ahead to winning singles," said Montsi. "I played some good tennis and I'm glad I was able to turn it around today from yesterday."
Michigan would pick up a win on court five before the Illini clinched. Noé Khlif scored the deuce point for Illinois. He battled through three sets to defeat Nino Ehrenschneider 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-3.
"Being able to clinch for the team was very exciting, playing for a Big Ten title is something we have been practicing for all year," said Khlif. "We know tomorrow will be a battle but we'll be ready for it."
Up Next
The Illini will go up against reigning Big Ten Champion Ohio State at 11 am CT tomorrow morning. Illinois lost the regular season matchup 4-1 in Champaign this year. The match will be available to stream on BTN+ and live stats will be available at sidearmstats.
