CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With a trip to the Sweet 16 at stake, the No. 4 Illinois Fighting Illini edged out the 33rd-ranked Drake University men's tennis team, 4-2, in a match that was decided by a handful of points on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Once again our guys gave a fabulous effort. It was a great match that came down to a couple points here or there,” said Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski. “The guys came here with every ounce of belief that they could beat Illinois today, and that says something about the state of our program. And I am so proud of the way we competed today.”
Illinois managed to win at the No. 2 doubles spot, 8-5, to open the match, but the Bulldogs responded with a 8-5 victory of their own by junior Ben Lott (Newcastle, England) and freshman Bayo Philips (Houston, Texas) at No. 1.
Doubles play was suspended for about a half hour due to rain with seniors Matt Frost (Cambridge, England) and Ravi Patel (London, England) ahead 6-5.
The deciding match for the doubles point resumed indoors in the Atkins Tennis Center and it came down to a tiebreaker. Frost and Patel took care of business in the tiebreaker, winning 7-2 and gave the Bulldogs the crucial doubles point.
The singles matches were delayed for about an hour before the site officials decided to play the remainder of the match indoors.
No. 74 Aleks Vukic gave the Illini their first point with a 6-0, 6-3 win on court No. 5.
Then in a match that could have gone either way, Illinois' Jared Hiltzik, who is ranked 23rd nationally, edged out No. 66 Lott, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 2 to give the Illini a 2-1 lead.
On court six, the match was decided by just a few points as Illinois' Ross Guignon narrowly beat senior Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England), 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 to push the Illini lead to 3-1.
Frost kept the Bulldogs season alive, as he came away with a three-set victory, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, over No. 65 Tim Kopinski.
Illinois' Farris Gosea, who is ranked 33rd, propelled the Fighting Illini to the Sweet 16 with a third-set tiebreaker win over No. 40 Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovin). Salibasic was able to take the first set 7-5 before dropping the second set 6-3. In a back and forth third set, Gosea served his way to 7-4 tiebreaker win.
“I want to congratulate Illinois head coach Brad Dancer and assistant coach Marcos Asse for a great match and wish them the best of luck down in Waco,” said Kozlowski.
The Bulldogs end their season with a 25-7 record, and with the programs' second NCAA Tournament victory. The team also earned Drake's fifth straight MVC regular season championship and its second straight MVC Tournament title.
