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Spring Break A Chance for Competition and Community Service for Illini
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Sophomore Marc Spicijaric and the Illini prepare for the Spring Break holiday.
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March 16, 2007
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 6 Illinois men's tennis team will use the Spring Break holiday as a chance to continue outdoor play, while also participating in community service efforts for the New Orleans area. Illinois opens the holiday with a match against No. 13 LSU at W.T. "Dub" Robinson Tennis Stadium on Tuesday, March 20 at 4 p.m., and will wrap up the trip offering a free tennis clinic for the New Orleans Metropolitan Area Tennis Association on Friday, March 24 at the Beach Club in Metairie, La.
"The team is always pumped when we have a chance to give back to the community, and we look forward to working with the New Orleans area youth over break," head coach Brad Dancer said. "Playing LSU is going to be a tough challenge. They are a very talented and well-coached team. We will be playing outdoors in some tough conditions, so it is going to be a great match."
A full recap of the Illini's contest against the Tigers can be found on fightingillini.com, following the conclusion of the match.
LAST TIME OUT
The Illinois men's tennis team cruised past Purdue, 6-1, and No. 29 Wisconsin, 5-2, this past weekend in Big Ten play to improve to 10-3 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten action. Against Purdue, the Illini put together a true team effort in the victory, stepping up their games in all areas of the court to hand the Boilermakers their first loss of the season.
The Illini doubles pair of No. 34 Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe set the tone of the night for Illinois against the Boilermakers, wrapping up an 8-2 victory in the top slot to open the match. In his dual debut, freshman Jordan Knue teamed with junior Brandon Davis at the third position, and showed no signs of being a rookie as the duo dismissed Purdue's Paul Foley and Paul Rose, 8-5, to seal the doubles point for the Orange and Blue en route to the 6-1 victory.
Illinois again clinched the doubles point in its match against the Badgers, and looked to be rolling in singles before Wisconsin made a late-match push. In singles, Anderson (ILL) notched the first point of the afternoon when his opponent Nolan Polley (WIS) retired, trailing 6-0, 2-0 in the second. With Illinois' fate on the ropes at 3-2, Spicijaric (ILL) fired back, using the cheers of the Illini's loyal fans and a strong determination to clinch the dual victory with a 7-6(7), 2-6, 6-2 defeat of Baumann (WIS) in the third spot.
LSU'S SEASON RESUME
The LSU men's tennis team continues to climb the ITA Rankings, moving up to No. 13 in the latest rankings released on Tuesday, March 13, moving up from their 15th-place ranking a week prior. The Tigers (9-2, 3-1 SEC) picked up two 6-1 victories in SEC play in their last two outings, defeating Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
Three out of LSU's nine wins have come against opponents ranked in the top 30, while its only two loses were against No. 1 Georgia and then No. 3 Ohio State.
Two doubles teams ranked in the top 10 lead the Tigers, including James Cluskey and Ken Skupski (No. 5) and Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston (No. 9). In singles, the Tigers list three players, including Ken Skupski (No. 21), Danny Bryan (No. 37) and Kevin Dessauer (No. 86). Before hosting the Fighting Illini, LSU travels to College Station, Texas to battle the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, March 17.
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
The Illini men's tennis program has been known for its success for much of its existence at the University of Illinois. That success included the sweep of the NCAA championships in 2003, bringing home Illinois' first national team title, first NCAA singles title (Amer Delic) and the second NCAA doubles title (Brian Wilson and Rajeev Ram) in the history of the program. With all of the success in the books, the 2007 season marks the Celebration of 100 years of men's tennis at the U of I. Along with the celebration, the Illini program will be honoring a 16-member All-Century Team to be honored at the March 31 Northwestern match at 1 p.m. at the Atkins Tennis Center. Along with the festivities, the 1946 Big Ten Championship team also will be celebrating its 60th anniversary since capturing the conference crown.
Illinois fans are encouraged to help the Illini celebrate this momentous season by continuing their support of the squad by attending all of Illinois' home matches, cheering the Orange and Blue onto victory as they look to continue to make the Atkins Tennis Center one of the most intimidating places to play in college tennis.
IN THE CLUTCH
The Illini have relied on a number of racquets to clinch a dual-match victory this season, with a total of four netters leading the Orange and Blue to a win. In Illinois' first three matches, junior Kevin Anderson (vs. No. 10 Pepperdine, 4-3), junior Ruben Gonzales (at Ball State, 7-0) and sophomore Marc Spicijaric (vs. Duke, 6-1) each notched the clinching singles win.
Overall, Spicijaric, who played predominantly at the No. 5 singles position and most recently moved to the No. 3, leads the Fighting Illini with four match clinchers, each of them coming against some of the nation's top squads (vs. No. 8 Duke, No. 31 Tennessee, No. 8 Florida, No. 29 Wisconsin). Of those matches, the Wesley Chapel, Fla., native's victory against the Volunteers came with the score tied at 3-3, while his match against Wisconsin helped hault a come-from-behind attempt by the Badgers who had slimmed the lead to 3-2 before Spicijaric's win in the No. 3 slot.
Anderson (No. 10 Pepperdine, Michigan State), Gonzales (No. 69 Ball State, No. 14 Oklahoma State) and senior GD Jones (No. 20 Texas A&M, Purdue) each are tied with two a piece on the year.
LOOKING AHEAD
Illinois will return home to host Northwestern on Saturday, March 31, using the match to celebrate 100 years of men's tennis at the U of I, while also welcoming back for their 60th anniversary, the 1946 Big Ten Championship team. Festivities for the event will begin with first serve in doubles at 1 p.m. at the Atkins Tennis Center. Both the All-Century Team and the 1946 team will be recognized in between doubles and singles with a special ceremony.
