URBANA, Ill. – Illinois men's tennis defeated No. 22 UNC today 4-2 at Atkins Tennis Center. After losing the doubles point the Illini stepped up in singles.
"It's been an incredibly difficult start to our season," said head coach Brad Dancer. "We can't change that and as coaches we know we've made mistakes in our preparation and coaching during matches. Today we had enough guys step up and overcome obstacles. That's what this sport is all about from an individual sense and a team sense, finding a way. Today our guys did that and stopped the bleeding. As we move forward we need to put the past behind us and get tougher and be tougher."
Freshman Gabrielius Guzauskas clinched the match for Illinois on court 5. Guzauskas took his set to a third, defeating Henry Lieberman 6-3,4-6,7-5.
"I was pretty confident today," said Guzauskas. "I just had to stay in the match and compete every point. I'm happy and I'm going to celebrate with me teammate a little but not too much and get back to work."
Hunter Heck quickly picked up a point for Illinois and tying the match at one-a-piece-, defeating Mac Kiger 7-6(1), 6-2 on court 3.
"I thought getting my match over relatively quickly and getting some momentum for us was really important," said Heck. Gabe handled the pressure so well today, it was amazing just to see it and I'm really happy for him. We got to keep the ball rolling now.
UNC picked up a second point on court 2. On court 1, Siphosothando Montsi and Benjamin Sigoui went back and forth. Montsi won the match 6-1,1-6, 7-6(5) to put tie the match again.
"It feels good to win again, we had been struggling a little bit so today was definitely a boost for us," said Montsi.
Alex Brown completed his second big comeback of the weekend. He defeated Logan Zapp 1-6,7-6(3), 7-5 on court 4. He put the Illini up 4-2 leaving allowing Guzauskas to clinch on 5. Lucas Horve on 6 went unfinished.
"I had a good weekend and played some good tennis, said Brown. "Gabe also came in huge today. It was the first time he was out there in one of the last matches and he came through so clutch."
Results
Doubles
1. Brian Cernoch/Mac Kiger (UNC) def. #59 Lucas Horve/Hunter Heck (ILL) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Logan Zapp/Casey Kania (UNC) def. Siphosothando Montsi/Olivier Stuart (ILL) 7-5
3. Alex Brown/Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL) vs. Benjamin Sigouin/Henry Lieberman (UNC) 6-6 (4-4), unfinished
Order of finish: Â 2,1
Singles
1. Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) def. Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #87 Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. #67 Olivier Stuart (ILL) 6-2, 7-5
3. Hunter Heck (ILL) def. Mac Kiger (UNC) 7-6 (7-1), 6-2
4. Alex Brown (ILL) def. Logan Zapp (UNC) 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
5. Gabrielius Guzauskas (ILL) def. Henry Lieberman (UNC) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5*
6. Lucas Horve (ILL) vs. Anuj Watane (UNC) 6-4, 4-6, 1-3, unfinished
Order of finish:Â 3,2,1,4,5*
Up Next
Illinois is back in actions March 4 against Baylor at Atkins Tennis Center. The match is scheduled for 6 pm CT. On the March 5 the Illini welcome UIC and TCU to Urbana.Â
