Sweeping Iowa & Nebraska this weekend will be a step in right direction.
Michigan State should be a win but Michigan will be tough the following weekend.
Michigan State should be a win but Michigan will be tough the following weekend.
2017 Illini Tennis
Some info on Hiltzik
Vukic up to #6 in the new singles rankings.
Illini get doubles point vs Iowa.
Hiltzik not in lineup. Singles going well so far.
Hiltzik not in lineup. Singles going well so far.
Illini 2-0 after Vukic wins his 14th consecutive singles match.
Another doubles point today with Vukic & Budic taking #1 7-6.
No Gomes today so it's Vukic, 4 freshmen and Pablo.
No Gomes today so it's Vukic, 4 freshmen and Pablo.
Lost doubles point today at Michigan but bounced back for huge 4-2 over #14 Wolverines. Having Noe healthy is helping a lot.
Tomorrow should be much easier but nothing is guaranteed.
Tomorrow should be much easier but nothing is guaranteed.
In other news, Illinois will host the NCAA championships for a second time in 2022:
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
How in the world does UCF get it twice in 3 years?
It's not at UCF, they are the "host school". The event will be at the new UTSA "national campus" that opened in Orlando recently. They'll probably be having the championships there, maybe every other year if this schedule is any indication.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
Haha, I was googling UTSA and Orlando and National Campus and was getting frustrated cuz nothing was coming up outside of UT San Antonio. Switched it to NCAA Tennis national campus and my first return was USTA.......
Here is the link for those interested.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...ncaa-tennis-championships-20170418-story.html
Illini just took the double point over #2 Ohio St. Had to have that to have any kind of chance. Could be interesting...
Interesting but Illini fall 4-3. Led 3-0 and lost final match on court two 3rd set tiebreaker.
Clinching match came from JJ Wolf who should be a high school senior. He graduated early and enrolled this spring. They add John McNally in the fall and don't graduate any one.
This was a great opportunity as I don't think Ohio State loses a B1G match next year either. Illini are only B1G team to take more than 1 match from Ohio State this season.
Yeah, Hiltzik couldn't close out his match. Doesn't matter for Big Ten standings as Illinois would be 3rd either way, but would have boosted the ranking.
Illinois doesn't lose anyone of significance either and adds a couple of good recruits. Could come down to the match in Columbus next season.
Hopefully the recent improvement in doubles play keeps going.
Illinois doesn't lose anyone of significance either and adds a couple of good recruits. Could come down to the match in Columbus next season.
Hopefully the recent improvement in doubles play keeps going.
A win would have put the Illini in a 2nd place tie with Michigan and gotten them a 2 seed based on head-to-head over Michigan.
That could be huge as the 3 seed Illini will likely be playing Purdue on Friday. The Boilers will be on their home court and have already defeated the Illini at Schwartz this year.
Yeah, I guess what I was pointing out was it's going to be us vs Michigan in the semi's regardless of whether we beat Ohio St or not. Fair point on having to play Purdue @ their place again, but I think we've improved enough to take care of them this time. I think we'll get the doubles pt and Vukic will win again, so just need 2 of the other 5 matches.
Much like last year with 2 tourney wins that avenged regular season losses, the guys got Purdue today. Lost doubles point but got 4 singles wins with other 2 matches in 3rd sets after Illini dropped first sets.
Need to finish Michigan again tomorrow and get another crack at Buckeyes.
Need to finish Michigan again tomorrow and get another crack at Buckeyes.
Not looking good today vs Michigan. This could be the extremely rare year where tourney final isn't Illini vs Buckeyes.
Yeah, was hoping they were having a late season surge, doesn't look like it. UM wins 4-2. We'll be on the road in the NCAAs this time, just the second time since 2007 that we haven't played at home the first round.
ilphotog
The camera never lies
- Champaign
Adding this with the tennis thread, the Women's team dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 match to top seeded OSU, also ranked in the top 5 nationally I believe. They have a chance to make the tournament. Big things are hopefully on the horizon for the women's team. Their three member recruiting class was ranked #7 in the nation. They recently just added another 5 star play from California. A tennis writer friend of mine said, this class should end up being a top 5 class.
The women's team in the 10 years I've covered them have usually been a good team, but never a really good or great team. With Evan now in control, things should start moving up, I've seen improvement with nearly every player in his two years running the program. Time will tell, but the future for women's tennis is looking good.
The women's team in the 10 years I've covered them have usually been a good team, but never a really good or great team. With Evan now in control, things should start moving up, I've seen improvement with nearly every player in his two years running the program. Time will tell, but the future for women's tennis is looking good.
I saw an interview with Evan on youtube, sounded like he was resigned to the fact they would not be playing in the NCAAs. I do agree it seems like that program is improving. Just like with women's golf, I've been surprised that this hasn't happened sooner. Great facilities for both sports so there's the opportunity for both to get a lot better.
Illini draw Drake in the NCAAs, winner of that will play #11 seed Oklahoma St who is hosting the regional site.
I expect Illini to beat Drake. Bulldogs have lost to Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin but defeated Michigan State, Nebraska and Iowa.
My kid played at fall Drake tourney and I saw most of Drake's guys. Solid but Illini should take care of business.
Oklahoma State is a different story. Going to be a tough one.
My kid played at fall Drake tourney and I saw most of Drake's guys. Solid but Illini should take care of business.
Oklahoma State is a different story. Going to be a tough one.
Illini win 4-0, Vukic didn't play singles.