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Junior Abe Souza finished 3-0 in singles on the weekend.
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Jan. 17, 2010
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The No. 15 Illini men's tennis team opened its season at the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Invitational Jan. 15-17, notching several individual singles and doubles victories against opponents from No. 13 Florida State, Florida Atlantic and host Florida Gulf Coast. Junior Abe Souza and freshman Stephen Hoh each finished 3-0 in singles play on the weekend to lead the Illini. Sunday's action was canceled due to rain.
"It was a productive weekend for us," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We got a lot of work in over the course of the week and played a lot of matches. It's always great preparation for the rest of the season and helps us see what we need to improve on."
In Friday's matches, four Illini claimed wins, as No. 43 sophomore Dennis Nevolo defeated Thibaud Aime (Florida Gulf Coast), 6-3, 6-3 and Souza swept Mitchell Lvovsky (FGC), 6-4, 6-1, while freshmen Hoh and Bruno Abdelnour each were victorious in their collegiate debut, as Hoh topped Daniel Vardag (Florida Atlantic) and Abdelnour defeated Erick Davila (FGC), 6-1, 6-4. The momentum continued into Saturday's matches, as Hoh and junior Connor Roth led the Illini with two wins each.
In doubles action on Saturday, the Orange and Blue went 3-1, as the duo of Roth and Souza picked up a pair of victories over Aime/Matthew Rock (FGC), 8-6 and Andres Bucaro/Anderson Reed (FSU), 9-8 (4) and Hoh and Abdelnour topped Aime/Rock, 9-8 (3).
Florida State's Jean-Yves Aubone was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player by the tournament committee.
The Illini return home for their first dual match of the season this Friday, Jan. 22 against No. 2 Virginia beginning at 6 p.m. at Atkins Tennis Center.
Results
Friday
#43 Dennis Nevolo d. Thibaud Aime (FGC), 6-3, 6-3
Stephen Hoh d. Daniel Vardag (FA), 5-7, 6-2, 6-0)
Abe Souza d. Mitchell Lvovsky (FGC), 6-4, 6-1
Georg Matschke (FA) d. Connor Roth, 6-2, 6-1
Bruno Abdelnour d. Erick Davila (FGC), 6-1, 6-4
Saturday
#43 Nevolo d. Marc Abdelnour (FA), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Hoh d. Sebastian Leitz (FGC), 6-2, 6-1
Souza d. Ervin Garibovic (FA), 6-3, 6-4
Lawrence Harradine (FA) d. Abdelnour, 7-5, 6-3
Hoh d. Connor Smith (FSU), 7-5, 6-0
Roth d. Nicholas Moore (FGC), 6-2, 6-1
Abdelnour d. Steve Binninger (FGC), 6-2, 6-3
#27 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) d. #43 Nevolo, 6-4, 6-4
Roth d. Raphael Costa (FGC), 6-0, 6-1
Souza d. Thibaud Aime (FGC), 6-1, 6-2
#31 Connor Smith/Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) d. Nevolo/Hoh, 8-2
Souza/Roth d. Thibaud Aime/Matthew Rock (FGC), 8-6
Souza/Roth d. Anderson Reed/Andres Bucaro (FSU), 9-8 (4)
Hoh/Abdelnour d. Thibaud Aime/Matthew Rock (FGC), 9-8 (3)
