Lexington, Ky. – The No. 10 ranked Fighting Illini men's tennis team traveled to Lexington, Kentucky on Tuesday, March 22, to take on No. 18 Kentucky. Down 3-1, Illinois fell short of completing a comeback as the Wildcats took a 4-3 victory. The match marked the ninth straight top-25 ranked opponent for the Illini. The loss moved Illinois to 8-7 on the season.
"We have to perform better at the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We didn't close out matches where we had momentum. That is the difference in us becoming an elite team. We had some tough performances from Jared and Aleks. They played with great composure."
The Illini were successful with a new doubles lineup today. After the doubles pair of Alex Jesse and Julian Childers were defeated on court three, the Illini responded with wins on courts one and two to gain the early advantage. Playing on court one, the doubles team of Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic defeated Bushamuka/Benson, 6-3. Jared Hiltzik and Pengxuan Jiang won 6-4 over Lai/Yates.
The Illini started slow in singles play, as Asher Hirsch and Brian Page were defeated on courts five and six, respectively. UI quickly found themselves down 3-1 as No. 10 Jared Hiltzik fell 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 to No. 27 William Bushamuka on court one.
No. 4 Aleks Vukic and No. 59 Aron Hiltzik responded with wins for the Illini, tying things up at 3-3. Vukic defeated Ryotaro Matsumara on court two by the scores of 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, while Hiltzik garnered a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Trey Yates at No. 3 singles.
The deciding match was on court four, as Julian Childers came up short against Austin Hussey by a scores of 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The Orange and Blue will be back in action in Bloomington, Indiana on March 25. The Big Ten match-up will begin at 2 p.m. CT.
#18 Kentucky 4, #10 Illinois 3
Singles competition
1. #27 William Bushamuka (UK) def. #10 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2-0)
2. #4 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. #59 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. Trey Yates (UK) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
4. Austin Hussey (UK) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
5. Jake Stefanik (UK) def. Asher Hirsch (ILL) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Kevin Lai (UK) def. Brian Page (ILL) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. William Bushamuka/Gus Benson (UK) 6-3
2. Jared Hiltzik/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) def. Kevin Lai/Trey Yates (UK) 6-4
3. Austin Hussey/Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. Alex Jeese/Julian Childers (ILL) 6-4
Match Notes:
Illinois 8-7 (0-1); National ranking #10
Kentucky 12-4 (3-2); National ranking #18
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,5,1,3,2,4)
