Saturday, January 23
Urbana-Champaign, IL
6 p.m.
Northwestern
0
at
4
Illinois
Northwestern Drops First Match of 2016 to #7 Illinois
1/23/2016 9:17:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Box Score (PDF)
URBANA, Ill. – Playing on Illinois' home court, No. 25 Northwestern dropped a competitive match to their in-state rivals in the finals of ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
With the win, Illinois advances to the National Indoor Team Championships in Charlottesville, Va. in mid-February.
The seventh-ranked Illini won 4-0, but the individual matches were much closer than the final score would indicate.
The Fighting Illini won singles matches in straight sets at Nos. 2 and 4 to take a 3-0 lead, but the remaining four matches all went to third sets. 16th-ranked Konrad Zieba seemed to be in control at No. 1 over Aleks Vukic with a 6-3 win in the first set and a 4-3 lead in the third, but Vukic won three consecutive games to clinch the team win for Illinois.
No. 55 Strong Kirchheimer and true freshman Ben Vandixhorn each held third-set leads at Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, when their matches went unfinished. At No. 5, Alp Horoz had just forced a third set when Illinois clinched the match.
Northwestern switched up its doubles lineup from Friday's win over Tulsa, putting Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz at No. 2, while partnering Sam Shropshire with Ben Vandixhorn at No. 3. Kumar and Horoz held a convincing 5-2 lead on their court, but the match went unfinished when the Illini clinched the first point with a pair of 6-3 wins at Nos. 1 and 3. Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer, the nation's 52nd-ranked tandem, held a 3-1 lead on the top court, but Illinois' Hiltzik and Jesse were able to score five straight points to win the match.
Chicago's Big Ten Team will get another shot at the Illini on March 12 at the Combe Tennis Center.
#7 Illinois 4, #25 Northwestern 0
Singles Results
No. 1 – Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. #16 Konrad Zieba (NU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4*
No. 2 – #21 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. #50 Sam Shropshire (NU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 – #55 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) vs. #41 Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (unfinished)
No. 4 – #67 Julian Childers (ILL) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 7-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Alp Horoz (NU) vs. Alex Jesse (ILL), 2-6, 7-5 (unfinished)
No. 6 – Ben Vandixhorn (NU) vs. Asher Hirsh (ILL), 3-6, 6-4, 2-1 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1*
Doubles Results
No. 1 – Hiltzik/Jesse (ILL) def. #52 Baev/Kirchheimer (NU), 6-3
No. 2 – Kumar/Horoz (NU) vs. Hiltzik/Vukic (ILL), 5-2 (unfinished)
No. 3 – Childers/Jiang (ILL) def. Shropshire/Vandixhorn (NU), 6-3*
Order of Finish: 1, 3*
URBANA, Ill. – Playing on Illinois' home court, No. 25 Northwestern dropped a competitive match to their in-state rivals in the finals of ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
With the win, Illinois advances to the National Indoor Team Championships in Charlottesville, Va. in mid-February.
The seventh-ranked Illini won 4-0, but the individual matches were much closer than the final score would indicate.
The Fighting Illini won singles matches in straight sets at Nos. 2 and 4 to take a 3-0 lead, but the remaining four matches all went to third sets. 16th-ranked Konrad Zieba seemed to be in control at No. 1 over Aleks Vukic with a 6-3 win in the first set and a 4-3 lead in the third, but Vukic won three consecutive games to clinch the team win for Illinois.
No. 55 Strong Kirchheimer and true freshman Ben Vandixhorn each held third-set leads at Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, when their matches went unfinished. At No. 5, Alp Horoz had just forced a third set when Illinois clinched the match.
Northwestern switched up its doubles lineup from Friday's win over Tulsa, putting Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz at No. 2, while partnering Sam Shropshire with Ben Vandixhorn at No. 3. Kumar and Horoz held a convincing 5-2 lead on their court, but the match went unfinished when the Illini clinched the first point with a pair of 6-3 wins at Nos. 1 and 3. Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer, the nation's 52nd-ranked tandem, held a 3-1 lead on the top court, but Illinois' Hiltzik and Jesse were able to score five straight points to win the match.
Chicago's Big Ten Team will get another shot at the Illini on March 12 at the Combe Tennis Center.
#7 Illinois 4, #25 Northwestern 0
Singles Results
No. 1 – Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. #16 Konrad Zieba (NU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4*
No. 2 – #21 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. #50 Sam Shropshire (NU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 – #55 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) vs. #41 Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (unfinished)
No. 4 – #67 Julian Childers (ILL) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 7-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Alp Horoz (NU) vs. Alex Jesse (ILL), 2-6, 7-5 (unfinished)
No. 6 – Ben Vandixhorn (NU) vs. Asher Hirsh (ILL), 3-6, 6-4, 2-1 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1*
Doubles Results
No. 1 – Hiltzik/Jesse (ILL) def. #52 Baev/Kirchheimer (NU), 6-3
No. 2 – Kumar/Horoz (NU) vs. Hiltzik/Vukic (ILL), 5-2 (unfinished)
No. 3 – Childers/Jiang (ILL) def. Shropshire/Vandixhorn (NU), 6-3*
Order of Finish: 1, 3*
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