KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Illinois secured its first dual win of the season with a 4-2 victory over Auburn in the team's final match of ITA Kickoff Weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee.
After dropping the doubles point, the Fighting Illini bounced back with four singles triumphs to complete the comeback and improve to 1-1 on the year.
"It's always awesome when we have supporters travel the country cheering us on. Huge thank you for the efforts to the Illini faithful who make our guys feel special," said head coach Brad Dancer. "It's always difficult playing in the consolation match on these weekends. Your body hurts a little more, and your mind can go to darker places. As expected, Auburn showed up today and absolutely kicked us in the teeth in doubles. We chose not to address the team in between and wanted to see our mettle.
"All six guys responded in singles. We have very few guys with dual-match experience, but that didn't show this weekend. It's about playing the points and moving to the next, no matter what. It was great to beat a really good Auburn team. It stings to not be the advancing team, but we will reset and get ready for Duke and North Carolina next week."
The Tigers claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2, and Auburn eventually extended their lead to 2-0 with a victory at No. 3 singles. The Illini, needing to win four of the final five matches in progress, turned that deficit around with three wins in quick succession.
Tyler Bowers began that rally with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph at No. 4, defeating Joey Phillips in straight sets for his first dual singles victory of the season.
Kenta Miyoshi and William Mroz then posted wins nearly simultaneously on the top two courts. Miyoshi was the first to finish, tying the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Auburn's Will Nolan at No. 1 before Will Mroz took down Billy Blaydes in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(6), to put the Orange and Blue in front for the first time.
Zach Viiala then clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory at No. 5, marking the first clinch of his collegiate career.
Illinois returns to action next weekend with a two-match road trip against No. 11 Duke and North Carolina. The Illini will take on the ranked Blue Devils on Friday at 4 p.m. CT before facing off with the Tar Heels on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: No. 15 Billy Blaydes/Will Nolan (Auburn) def. No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-1
No. 2: Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (Auburn) def. Mathis Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-3
No. 3: William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) vs. Nicholas Heng/Jake Kennedy (Auburn), 3-4, unf.
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
No. 1: No. 14 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. Will Nolan (Auburn), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2: No. 30 William Mroz (Illinois) def. Billy Blaydes (Auburn), 6-3, 7-6(6)
No. 3: No. 95 Alex Frusina (Auburn) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-3, 6-4
No. 4: Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. Joey Phillips (Auburn), 7-5, 6-3
No. 5: Zach Viiala (Illinois) vs. Hamza Nasridinov (Auburn), 6-4, 7-6(3)
No. 6: Mathis Debru (Illinois) vs. Nicholas Heng (Auburn), 6-4, 3-6, 3-1, unf.
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 5
