URBANA, Ill. – Illinois men's tennis is moving on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after defeating DePaul 4-1 on  a windy Friday afternoon.
"Three things stood out to me today," said head coach Brad Dancer. "DePaul, what a great team effort from them, they put up a great challenge for us. I think they've got great coaches and great players on their team. Two, it was a very very windy day and that played a large factor in all of today's matches. And three I thought we had some exceptional performances today. Hunter, Siphos were both expceptional today and also Noe, he was really really good today.
Illinois won four straight singles matches after losing the doubles point. DePaul won 6-3 on court two before winning 6-4 on court three.
Hunter Heck gave Illinois their first point of the day. He defeated Fran Tonejc in two quick straight sets (6-1, 6-1).
"Today's match was a good confidence builder going into tomorrow," said Heck. "As far as tomorrow, we are just looking to keep the momentum going."
Siphosothando Montsi next won in singles no. 2 defeating Christopher Casati 6-1, 6-3.
"It felt good to win, especially after the doubles point," said Montsi. "It was some tough conditions but I think the boys did a great job of coming back and just keeping things professional, doing what we were supposed to."
Zeke Clark put the Illini up 3-1 after defeating Tamas Zador 6-2, 6-3 on court four.Â
"We did a great job of staying tough in difficult conditions today," said Clark. "I think we need to be a a lot sharper tomorrow, I give DePaul a lot of credit they came out with a lot of energy and our guys did a good job resetting after losing the doubles point."
Noe Khlif clinched the match for the Orange and Blue on six. He came back after falling down early in the first set to defeat Luuk Wassenaar  7-5, 6-2.
"We are pretty happy to have won today, that was the goal," said Khlif. "We have another match tomorrow against a great team so we got to make sure everyone is ready and stays focus."
Up Next
Illinois will play Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow at 1 pm CT at Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
