ORLANDO, Fla. - Illinois men's tennis fell to No. 1 Florida on Monday night. The match capped off a 23-3 season that saw upsets over No. 1 USC, No. 7 Virginia and a Big Ten Tournament Championship.
"I'm so proud of this team and this group of guys," said head coach Brad Dancer. "They have a legacy of their Big Ten Tournament Championship and regular season accomplishment. There are so many great memories that we have had with this group and I'm proud of their resiliency, their growth about everything they've been through and proud of this season."
Illinois dropped the doubles points after Aleks Kovacevic and Hunter Heck won 6-4 over Brian Berdusco and Will Grant. Illinois battled hard in singles with Kovacevic and Heck contending in third sets and Siphosothando Montsi leading the second set. Blaise Bicknell clinched the match for Florida over Zeke Clark on court four.
"Hats off to Florida, they are a great team with great players and great coaches, said Dancer. "I was really impressed with their squad tonight."
The Illini fans showed out in Orlando to support the squad after COVID-19 kept them away from Atkins for most of the season.
"Our fans were amazing tonight. We came down to central Florida and everyone was talking about the Gainesville crowd and our crowd came out and was just magnificent. I think that anyone that was here tonight could see that if you come play for the Illini it's a special special place. Our people travel and here we are in central Florida and we absolutely drowned out all the Gator fans and that is a testament to our amazing fanbase. I couldn't be more proud of all the people that made the effort to come down here and scream and yell. We love Illini Nation, it was so cool for these guys who didn't have fans all year and then to come down to this moment and in enemy territory where our fans showed up; I'm super happy they got that experience.
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Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic and Siphosothando Montsi will stay in Orlando to compete in the NCAA Singles Tournament next week.
