COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Fighting Illini men's tennis team suffered a 4-0 loss at No. 5 Ohio State Sunday afternoon in its final regular season match. Illinois (17-9) dropped consecutive conference games for the first time this season and finish 8-3 in Big Ten play.

"Today we were outcoached. Ohio State made better mid-match adjustments and cost us from putting points on the board," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We have to play with more discipline in doubles and stay on tactics in singles. When you see your guys fighting but losing ground, we as coaches have to have them better prepared for the nuances of competition. We will be ready of the Big Ten Tournament."  

No. 90 Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic continued their strong play of late with a victory at No. 2 doubles. The sophomore duo defeated No. 31 Steinbach/Joyce by the score of 6-3. Ohio State responded to take victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to garner the early 1-0 lead.

Illinois battled in singles to take the first set on three courts. In a matchup of top-15 ranked singles players, No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard bested No. 13 Jared Hiltzik in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) at No. 1 singles.

No. 90 Herkko Pollanen increased the Buckeye lead to 3-0 with a straight set (6-1, 7-5) victory over Alex Jesse at No. 6 singles.

Julian Childers suffered just his second conference loss, falling in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-1) to Ralf Steinbach at No. 4 singles.

The Orange and Blue will enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The conference tournament, hosted by the Minnesota Golden Gophers, will begin on Thursday, April 28. Illinois received a first-round bye and will begin play on Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT against the winner of six-seeded Penn State and 11-seeded Michigan State.

#5 Ohio State 4, #15 Illinois 0

Singles competition

1. #1 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #13 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-3, 6-4

2. #93 Chris Diaz (OSU) vs. #3 Aleks Vukic (ILL) 5-7, 2-5, unfinished

3. #37 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) vs. #65 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 6-1, 6-6, unfinished

4. Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

5. Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) 4-6, 6-3, 4-0, unfinished

6. #90 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Alex Jesse (ILL) 6-1, 7-5

Doubles competition

1. #20 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Jared Hiltzik/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) 6-3

2. #90 Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. #31 Ralf Steinbach/Martin Joyce (OSU) 6-3

3. Hugo Di Feo/Matt Mendez (OSU) def. Brian Page/Julian Childers (ILL) 7-5

Match Notes:

Illinois 17-9 (8-3); National ranking #15

Ohio State 27-2 (11-0); National ranking #5

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,6,4)

Official: Marcus Lee T-2:41 A-292