Nov. 5, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Preseason No. 24 Dennis Nevolo advanced to the second round of the singles main draw earlier today at the ITA National Indoor Championships hosted by Yale University, defeating No. 28 Diego Cubas (South Carolina), 6-1, 6-2. Nevolo will face No. 14 Michael Shabaz (Virginia) tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT.

"It was good to get that first win under his belt," assistant coach Marcos Asse said. "Diego (Cubas) is a great ball striker, so the score wasn't really indicative of the focus it took for Dennis to prevail. Hopefully he can build on that and perform well tomorrow."

In doubles action, Nevolo and teammate Marek Czerwinski fell in the first round to third-seeded Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher (Stanford), 8-6. The Illini will compete in the consolation bracket tomorrow at 8 a.m. CT against Calvin Bennett and Joel Samaha (Yale).

"They needed to stay motivated, because every team here is good," Asse said. "There's still a lot of tournament left though, so they're ready to make some adjustments and continue playing tomorrow."

For complete tournament information, click HERE.