CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men’s tennis team defeated Central Florida, 5-2, Friday night in front of a packed Atkins Tennis Center.
The Illini improved to 7-4 on the season and 5-0 at home.
“Every team has warts and pimples, we’re not immune to that,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “If you focus on the warts and the pimples, you’re going to be uglier, so we’re focusing on the positive things tonight. We wanted to focus on engaging and how we respond – we didn’t do that across the board, but, man, the guys who did step up, that’s exactly what they did. We’re going to keep trying to hone in on that focus, engage and respond attitude. But the guys who had that tonight looked like Illini Tennis players and that was awesome.”
Lucas Horve and Gabrielius Guzauskas responded first in doubles, defeating Luca Hotze and Liam Branger, 6-1.
Hunter Heck and Karlis Ozolins clinched the doubles point for the Illini with a 6-3 win over Yassine Dlimi and Mehdi Benchakroun.
Mathis Debru and Oliver Okonkwo were in a 4-4 showdown with Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje before leaving the match unfinished.
William Mroz made quick work in his singles match against Benchakroun with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Alex Petrov followed shortly after, beating ?Dlimi, 6-1, 6-2.
The fourth straight win for the Illini came from Nic Meister, who defeated Colin, 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Ozolins and Okonkwo dropped their matches back-to-back – Ozolins, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 10-7, to Pavel and Okonkwo, 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1, to Branger.
Heck finished the match out with a big win over Cronje in a super tie break, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 10-3.
The Orange and Blue will be back at Atkins Saturday at 6 p.m. against Notre Dame for the Orange Out match.
Results
Singles competition
1. Alex Petrov (ILL) def. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 6-1, 6-2
2. Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. Karlis Ozolins (ILL) 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-7
3. Hunter Heck (ILL) def. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 10-3
4. William Mroz (ILL) def. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-2, 6-2
5. Liam Branger (UCF) def. Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
6. Nic Meister (ILL) def. Paul Colin (UCF) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
Doubles competition
1. Mathis Debru/Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) vs. Bogdan Pavel/Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 4-4, unfinished
2. Karlis Ozolins/Hunter Heck (ILL) def. Yassine Dlimi/Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-3
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