Nov. 7, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Illini doubles duo of sophomore Dennis Nevolo and senior Marek Czerwinski won two straight matches earlier today, en route to claiming the back draw doubles title at the ITA National Indoor Championships hosted by Yale University.

The Orange and Blue defeated Aleksey Bessonov and Olekesandr Nedovyesov (Oklahoma State), the top seed in the back draw, 8-3 in the semifinals, before topping No. 2-seed and preseason No. 6 Moritz Baumann and Marek Michalicka (Wisconsin), 8-3 in the finals. It was the Illini duo's second consecutive victory over their Big Ten rivals, as they also were victorious in the semifinal round at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships.

"They were able to make the adjustments that were needed and it paid off," assistant coach Marcos Asse said. "It's a credit to their character in how they were able to bounce back and get better with each match. As a coach, you can't ask for much more than that."

"We were both on in the first match and returned the ball well," Nevolo said. "That carried over into the finals and we moved well together and played off each other."

"We played some great competition today," Czerwinski said. "It was fun to get another chance at (Moritz) Baumann and (Marek) Michalicka. We played well and improved our play with each match."

This concludes the fall season for the Illini, who will return to action Jan. 15 at the Illinois-Florida Invitational.