NCAAs 2011: Illinois, Ohio State Men Ready for Round of 16

Thanks to weekend wins on their home turf, the Fighting Illini and the Ohio State Buckeyes are in Palo Alto, California, to play the round of 16 at the NCAA Tennis Championships.

At the start of the weekend, the Big Ten Conference had five men's teams who have qualified for the NCAAs - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State.

Indiana fell in the opening round at Texas A&M to LSU, 4-3, in a match that came down to No. 5, where LSU's Mark Bowtell defeated Stephen Vogl (IU), 7-6 (6),2-6, 6-3.

Michigan lost their bid  in the first round of play to Maryland their 20th appearance at the NCAAs. The Wolverines lost 4-2 after  Barrett Franks beat Sergio Wyss at No. 4, 5-7,6-4,6-4.

Minnesota was gone from the tournament in the first round as Fresno State's David Ayoun squeezed by Gopher Julian Dehn  5-7,6-3,7-5, and gave the Bulldogs the 4-3 win.

Illinois earned a spot at the NCAA Round of 16 after shutting out Drake in the first round and then defeating the University of North Carolina in a 4-1http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1447038639101343561 match that was tighter than the score shows.

Ohio State advances to the round of 16 without the loss of a match in singles or doubles. The Buckeyes shutout Ball State in the first round and then did the same over Notre Dame in the second. They  enter the NCAAs as the tournament's fourth seed.

On Thursday, Illinois will face top-seeded Virginia at 6:00 pm PST. Ohio State plays Tulsa at 3:00 pm. Results from both matches to come upon completion. For live scoring and results on all teams, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site.