URBANA, Ill. – The No. 11 Fighting Illini men's tennis team fell to No. 8 TCU Sunday afternoon inside Atkins Tennis Center by a score of 5-2. Illinois moves to 7-5 on the season, suffering its second home defeat of the season.
"We didn't take care of things where we needed to," head coach Brad Dancer said. "If you do that against a good team, you're going to lose. I give TCU a lot of credit because Atkins isn't an easy place to play."
The Illini fell behind early after dropping two of three doubles matches. The doubles pair of Jared Hiltzik and Alex Jesse cruised to a 6-0 victory on court one over Norrie/Johnson. Julian Childers and Brian Page suffered a 6-2 loss to Rybakov/Nunez on court three. The doubles point came down to court two, where Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic fell to Blake/Stalder 6-4.
TCU garnered the first singles victory of the match, as Pablo Landa fell 6-2, 6-1 to Jerry Lopez at the No. 5 position.
The Illini responded by getting on the board with a straight set victory by No. 11 Jared Hiltzik on court one. Hiltzik defeated No. 24 Alex Rybakov 6-4, 7-6 on court one, improving his dual record to 9-1 on the season.
The Horned Frogs took a 3-1 advantage after No. 2 Cameron Norrie defeated No. 9 Aleks Vukic on court two 6-4, 7-5. The clincher came on court three as No. 49 Guillermo Nunez defeated No. 66 Aron Hiltzik 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Playing the remaining matches out, Asher Hirsch garnered his second win of the season by taking down Trevor Johnson 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on court six. Julian Childers fell to No. 99 Eduardo Nava 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 at the No. 4 position.
Up next, the Orange and Blue will travel to Evanston to take on Northwestern on March 12. Competition will begin at noon.
#8 TCU 5, #11 Illinois 2
Singles competition
1. #11 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. #24 Alex Rybakov (TCU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
2. #2 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #9 Aleks Vukic (ILL) 6-4, 7-5
3. #49 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. #66 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
4. #99 Eduardo Nava (TCU) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 7-5, 1-6, 7-5
5. Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. Pablo Landa (ILL) 6-2, 6-1
6. Asher Hirsch (ILL) def. Trevor Johnson (TCU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Jared Hiltzik/Alex Jesse (ILL) def. Cameron Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) 6-0
2. Hudson Blake/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) 6-4
3. Alex Rybakov/Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. Julian Childers/Brian Page (ILL) 6-2
Match Notes:
TCU 8-2; National ranking #8
Illinois 7-5; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,1,2,3,6,4)
T-2:30 A-407
