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Illinois Looks To Clinch Fifth Consecutive Outright Tennis Title
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Freshman Phil Stolt has been a mainstay for the Illini this season at No. 2 singles.
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April 19, 2001
The Fighting Illini take to the road this weekend as the 2001 regular season draws to a close with matches at Columbus, Ohio Saturday at noon and at State College, Pa. Sunday at noon. Only the 25th-ranked Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions stand between No. 10 Illinois and its fifth Big Ten Conference championship in succession and its fourth undefeated Big Ten season in a row.
Coach Craig Tiley's UI troops are coming off a weekend during which they beat No. 51 Wisconsin, 7-0, and No. 44 Minnesota, 5-2, at the Atkins Tennis Center. Those victories moved the Orange and Blue winning streak to 10 consecutive matches. The Illini are 17-5 on the season and 8-0 in Big Ten play. Illinois also extended its record stretch of conference tennis wins to 53 in a row.
Inidividually, senior Graydon Oliver is ranked No. 20 in the country in singles. And despite the fact that he and freshman teammate Amer Delic lost twice last weekend after being named the No. 1 duo in the nation, they check in at the No. 2 spot on the ITA doubles chart this week. Freshman Philip Stolt is also nationally ranked, he moved up from No. 59 last week to No. 56 this time around.
Several Illini are reaching or approaching statistical milestones. Junior Mike Kosta has 88 career singles wins, he's No. 9 on the all-time UI list. Oliver and Delic have 19 doubles victories so far this year, they are tied for 12th in that category of the Illini record book. Freshman Michael Calkins and junior Jamal Parker are just one win behind. Calkins currently has a six-win streak going in singles. Kosta, who is 8-0 in Big Ten competition, has won 12 of his last 14 singles matches. Stolt and junior Nathan Zeder have each won in nine of their last 10 singles outings. In doubles, Zeder and Kosta have won nine of their last 11, and Kosta has also won six of his last seven doubles encounters when paired with Calkins.
The Buckeyes hold down second place in the Big Ten with a 7-1 record, their only loss was a 4-3 setback at Michigan two weeks ago. Overall, OSU is 20-2, with its only other defeat coming in a 5-2 affair with Notre Dame in Columbus. Second-year Ohio State Coach Ty Tucker will be saying goodbye to five seniors this weekend, as far as regular-season play is concerned. The Buckeyes' top player, Phil Metz, ranked No. 57, is a sophomore. Illinois leads in the series with Ohio State, 49-24, the Bucks last defeated the Illini, 5-2, April 9, 1994, in Champaign-Urbana.
Penn State has struggled this season. The Nittany Lions enter the weekend with a 12-10 record overall and an 0-8 mark in the Big Ten. Illinois holds an 11-3 margin in the all-time series with PSU.
"I think Ohio State is very good," said Tiley. "They're second in the Big Ten right now, and they're a good team. If we don't play well, they'll beat us, they will be our strongest competition in the conference. As for Penn State, they're a little down right now. But playing Ohio State on the road, on their home court with a very good record, it's going to be a tough match."
Following Sunday's match at Penn State, the Illini will prepare for the Big Ten Tournament, which takes place April 26-29 in Madison, Wis. NCAA regional play will take place May 11-13 at 16 sites across the country, with the nationals scheduled for May 19-27 in Athens, Ga.
