URBANA, Ill. – No. 11 Fighting Illini men's tennis lost to No. 7 Arizona Wildcats, 4-3, Sunday evening at Atkins Tennis Center.
"Huge credit to Arizona," head coach Brad Dancer said. "They play with tremendous spirit, which is what college tennis is all about. This was a huge opportunity we just didn't capitalize on. We weren't strong enough in certain positions to put pressure on them. Then coming down to Karlis' match you can see he just left it all on the line. He did everything a coaching staff could ask for."
The Illini fall to 7-4 on the year with the Wildcats improving to 14-2 overall.
Illinois started the match strong, with No. 3-ranked Karlis Ozlons and Hunter Heck defeating Herman Hoeyeraal and Eric Padgham 6-0 in twenty minutes.
No. 57 Oliver Okonkwo and Lucas Horve clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 win over No. 15 Jay Friend and Colton Smith.
Freshman Jeremey Zhang was the first Illini to win, beating Inaki Cabrera-Bello 6-3, 6-1 in the five spot.
No. 39-ranked Heck added to Illinois' lead, defeating No. 8 Smith, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
After back-to-back Illini losses, Arizona clinched the match with No. 52 Friend taking a 7-5, 6-7 (11), 6-4 win over No. 30 Ozolins.
Up Next
Illinois will close out its non-conference schedule with a trip to Oklahoma to play Oral Roberts (10 a.m. CT) and Tulsa (3 p.m. CT) on March 14 before taking on Oklahoma State at 12:30 p.m. CT on March 16.
Results
Doubles competition
1. #57 Lucas Horve/Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) def. #15 Jay Friend/Colton Smith (ARIZ) 7-5
2. #3 Hunter Heck/Karlis Ozolins (ILL) def. Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) 6-0
3. Kenta Miyoshi/Mathis Debru (ILL) vs. Sasha Rozin/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 5-5, unfinished
Singles competition
1. #39 Hunter Heck (ILL) def. #8 Colton Smith (ARIZ) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
2. #52 Jay Friend (ARIZ) def. #30 Karlis Ozolins (ILL) 7-5, 6-7 (11-13), 6-4
3. Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) def. #55 Kenta Miyoshi (ILL) 6-4, 6-4
4. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) def. William Mroz (ILL) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
5. Jeremy Zhang (ILL) def. Inaki Cabrera-Bello (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-1
6. Casper Christensen (ARIZ) def. Mathis Debru (ILL) 6-4, 6-3
