SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 23 Fighting Illini men's tennis (5-2) defeated Notre Dame(5-4), 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
"I'm super excited to get a road win," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Karlis (Ozolins) and Kenta (Miyoshi) set the stage today and Alex (Petrov) was tough as nails when not at his best. We have to be better as coaches of getting our guys to understand situational play -- it'll be a huge emphasis going forward, but we had some great leadership today."
The Illini started the match off with a 6-2 doubles win from Mathis Debru and Kenta Miyoshi over Nil Giraldez and Brian Bilsey.
No. 3-ranked Karlis Ozolins and Hunter Heck clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Evan Lee and Chase Thompson.
Miyoshi pulled Illinois further ahead with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Thompson. Ozolins followed suit, beating Giraldez 6-2, 7-5 in the No. 2 spot.
Alex Petrov clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Jameson Corsillo.
Prior to the start of the match, the coaches from both teams decided to play out leading to freshman Jeremy Zhang losing to Kyran Magimay 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the No. 6 spot.
The Illini will be back in action against Baylor on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m. CT at Atkins Tennis Center.
Results
