Saturday, May 15, 2010

Illini and Wisconsin to face each other at NCAAs

It was one of the best weather days we’ve seen for tennis this year with the wind in Champaign under control as Illinois hosted the first round of the NCAAs.


Up first was Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame. The Badgers, ranked at No. 27 to the Fighting Irish’s No. 39, were the favorites, but no one expected to see an easy match and it wasn’t.  Even the doubles point came down to court 2, only at 5-4 when the others finished with one for each team. The fact that Wisconsin was first on the board seemed to fire up the Irish and before long they had leads on almost every court.

The Badgers played catch up fairly quickly and the first sets were evenly divided between the two teams. Moritz Baumann had his match against Casey Watt finished quickly for Wisconsin’s second point. There would be only one more straight set match after that and it would go to Notre Dame’s Blas Moros at No. 6 for the 2-1 score. Patrick Pohlman put the Badgers just one point away, but the Irish quickly answered back with a win by Samuel Keeton (pictured right). With a score of 3-2, and Wisconsin up 5-2 in the third on two different courts, it was the first time the winner was clear and Billy Bertha sealed it at No. 5.

Since the first match was running late, the Fighting Illini and Xavier began their doubles point on the opposite courts while play was still on (a rule I will never like). Though Illinois started with leads on all courts and finished at No. 2 very quickly, there was a bit of a backslide that Xavier took full advantage of. It would go up to 8-6 at No. 3 before Connor Roth and Stephen Hoh finished it, leaving the top court at 8-7.

In singles, it was all Illini with only one exception. While the courts around them were finishing off their games (and even matches), No. 4 would remain in a battle.  Xavier’s Bobby Dye and Johnny Hamui kept it even through every long point, stopping at 4-4 in the first when Abe Souza clinched the 4-0 win.

Illinois
and Wisconsin will face each other at 2:00 p.m. at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex at the University of Illinois' Atkins Tennis Center. They will be playing for the NCAA Championships round of 16 berth.

NCAA Division I Championships
First Round at the University of Illinois
No. 27 Wisconsin 4, No. 39 Notre Dame 2Moritz Baumann (WIS) defeated Casey Watt (ND), 6-1,6-3
Marek Michalicka (WIS) vs. Stephen Havens (ND), 6-4 ,6-7 (1),5-5 Did Not Finish
Patrick Pohlmann (WIS) defeated Daniel Stahl (ND), 3-6,6-3,6-1
Samuel Keeton (ND) defeated Chris Freeman (WIS), 4-6,6-4,6-2
Billy Bertha (WIS) defeated David Anderson (ND), 3-6,6-3,6-2
Blas Moros (ND) defeated Michael Dierberger (WIS), 6-4,6-4
Moritz Baumann/Marek Michalicka (WIS) defeated Casey Watt/Stephen Havens (ND), 8-4
Patrick Pohlmann/Michael Dierberger (WIS) defeated Tyler Davis/Niall Fitzgerald (ND), 8-4
Daniel Stahl/David Anderson (ND) defeated Ricardo Martin/Chris Freeman (WIS), 8-4

No. 13 Illinois 4, Xavier 0
Marek Czerwinski (ILL) vs. Chris Herrlinger (XU), 6-2, 3-4 Did Not Finish
Dennis Nevolo (ILL) defeated Richard Canelas (XU), 6-1,6-1
Abe Souza (ILL) defeated Patrick Bandy (XU), 6-0,6-2
Johnny Hamui (ILL) vs. Bobby Deye (XU), 4-4 Did Not Finish
Stephen Hoh (ILL) defeated JT Torbeck (XU), 6-0,6-1
Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) vs. Brandon MacDonald (XU), 6-0,3-4 Did Not Finish
Marek Czerwinski/Abe Souza (ILL) vs. Patrick Bandy/Chris Herrlinger (XU), 8-7 Did Not Finish
Dennis Nevolo/Johnny Hamui (ILL) defeated Anthony Palmenter/Brian Starr (XU), 8-1
Connor Roth/Stephen Hoh (ILL) defeated Bobby Deye/JT Torbeck (XU), 8-6
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