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Men's Tennis
Illini Fall in Second Round of Qualifying Draw
Nov. 15, 2009 Order of Play - Monday, Nov. 16
URBANA, Ill. - The second round of qualifying play at the JSM Challenger was not as kind to the Illini, as juniors Connor Roth and Abe Souza both fell in matches earlier today at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. Roth was topped in straight sets by eighth-seeded Treat Conrad Huey, who is currently ranked No. 171 in the world, 6-4, 6-4, while Souza fell to No. 6-seed Richard Bloomfield, 6-2, 6-3. "I thought I did fairly well from the baseline and in controlling the points and playing at my tempo, but I didn't return very well today and he has a big lefty serve and mixes up the spins really well, so I had trouble there," Roth said. "I was definitely nervous in the first two games and needed to loosen up." "It was really hard to get in a rhythm against him (Bloomfield)," Souza said. "He's a big server and comes in a lot, so I kind of struggled to get going and feel like I was in it." The duo also were defeated in their qualifying doubles match earlier today by former Illini Ryan Rowe and teammate Ashwin Kumar, 6-4, 6-1. "I thought we played pretty well in doubles, but just missed a few key shots here and there," Souza said. No. 3-seed Bjorn Rehnquist defeated UI men's tennis volunteer assistant coach Scott Denenberg, 6-2, 6-4, who also fell in his qualifying doubles match with former Illini Brandon Davis, 6-2, 6-2 to Trent Aaron and Craig Schwartz. Qualifying play concludes tomorrow morning and will be followed by the start of singles and doubles main draw action later in the day. Qualifying Singles - Second Round Qualifying Doubles - Semifinals Monday's Highlighted Matches: Not Before 3:30 PM - Court 1 Not Before 6:00 PM - Court 1 Not Before 6:30 PM - Court 2 Additional information can be found HERE.
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