URBANA, Ill. – Illinois graduate transfer Olivier Stuart concluded his collegiate tennis career on Monday evening. Stuart fell to Henry von der Schulenburg 6-1,6-3 in the round of 64 of the NCAA Singles Championship.

"I should have been more aggressive," Stuart said. "That's what I take out from this match. I was a bit too passive on some shots, and he took advantage of it."

"As a player, that becomes a little disheartening out there," head coach Brad Dancer sadi. "But you almost have to flip that switch mentally and if you can start to win those, now it flips the script on the other guy as well. It's part of the game and part of the sport. You always have to be ahead of yourself mentally."

Stuart came to the Illini for his COVID year of eligibility this season after spending his first four years at Mercer. During his time in Georgia, Stuart was a two-time All-SoCon first team member (Singles and Doubles), the 2019 So-Con Player of the Year and became the highest ranked ITA singles player in program history at No. 46 among other honors.

"I'm hoping Olivier feels like this is a home for him," Dancer said. "He's such a great person, so we'll use him as a mentor and have him around as much as we can. He's a phenomenal young man. We've been lucky to have him. ... It was just a shame we weren't able to have a bit better season for him to be a part of."

Stuart finishes the season 12-11 including  9-7 in dual match play. At the No. 3 singles he went 5-3 and finished the regular season on a five-match win streak. The No. 59 ranked singles player clinched Illinois 4-3 win over UCF in March and defeated No. 31 Mason Beiler (Okla)  6-2, 6-1 early in the season.