BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 4-seed Fighting Illini men’s tennis defeated No. 5-seed Nebraska, 4-2 on Friday afternoon in the IU Tennis Center.
“It was a great team effort today,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “Nebraska has really good players and they’re really well coached. With losing the doubles point, the guys kind of had to step up and play and came out really focused in singles. Nebraska, huge credit to them, really pushed hard back into us and put us in a tough situation and our guys pushed back, which was awesome. That was a great college tennis match and we’re happy to move forward.”
The Illini started doubles shaky, with Oliver Okonkwo and Mathis Debru losing to Leo Linquet and William Gleason, 6-3.
Hunter Heck and William Mroz, however, evened it up by defeating Lars Johann and Calvin Mueller, 6-3. The Cornhuskers went on to win the doubles point after Gabrielius Guzauskas and Lucas Horve fell to Shunya Maruyama and Nic Wiedenhorn, 6-4.
Heck made quick work in singles play, defeating Linquet, 6-2, 6-2. Mroz followed suit, beating Mueller, 6-2, 6-2, with Alex Petrov taking his match, 6-1, 6-4 over Maruyama.
Nic Meister, however, dropped his match in three sets to Wiedenhorn, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. True freshman Kenta Miyoshi stole the match away in his third set, defeating Gleason, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to clinch the match point.
Up Next
The Illini will play No.1-seed Ohio State Saturday at 10 a.m. CT
Results
Doubles competition
1. Leo Linquet/William Gleason (NEB) def. Mathis Debru/Oliver Okonkwo (ILL), 6-3
2. Nic Wiedenhorn/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Lucas Horve/Gabrielius Guzauskas (ILL), 6-4
3. William Mroz/Hunter Heck (ILL) vs./def. Calvin Mueller/Lars Johann (NEB), 6-3
Singles competition
1. Hunter Heck (ILL) def. Leo Linquet (NEB), 6-2, 6-2
2. Alex Petrov (ILL) def. Shunya Maruyama (NEB), 6-1, 6-4
3. Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) vs. Lars Johann (NEB), 5-7, 6-2, 3-4, unfinished
4. William Mroz (ILL) def. Calvin Mueller (NEB), 6-2, 6-2
5. Kenta Miyoshi (ILL) def. William Gleason (NEB), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
6. Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) def. Nic Meister (ILL), 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Order of finish
Singles: 1, 4, 2, 6, 5, unfinished
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
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