Illinois senior Ryler DeHeart came up just short of his second national title this weekend at the Polo Ralph Lauren/ Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships.

DeHeart won his first national singles title at the ITA National Indoor Championships last November and was the No. 1 seed in the tournament. He was stopped by Baylor’s Lars Poerschke, who is the No. 25 player in the nation, in the tournament semifinals.

DeHeart lost to Poerschke 6-1, 6-2.

“He really played a great match,” DeHeart said. “I felt kind of helpless against him – it was out of my hands.”

Although DeHeart credits Poerschke for the Bear’s outstanding performance, Illinois head coach Brad Dancer pointed out the highlights in DeHeart’s performance.

“It was an exceptional performance by Ryler,” Dancer said. “He is a tremendous competitor. He won’t back down from any situation.”

DeHeart’s perseverance showed early in the championships. The night before his first competition, DeHeart had to fend off flu-like symptoms, including a cold sweat that kept him up most of the night, Dancer said. The weather on the day of DeHeart’s first-round match was unfavorable as well, making the ailing athlete’s straight set victory over Oklahoma’s Marek Velicka 6-4, 6-4 and his three-set win over Texas’ Travis Helgeson even more impressive. DeHeart defeated Helgeson 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(3).

“It couldn’t have been a more ridiculous situation for him to play in,” Dancer said.

DeHeart faced internal struggles as well. The tournament was held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, where the Illinois men’s tennis team lost in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2004.

DeHeart was the one of the six Illini on the court in singles when the team lost. This weekend marked the first time the Illinois senior has returned to the courts since that defeat.

“The UCLA loss crossed my mind – fortunately, I didn’t have to play on the court I lost on,” DeHeart said.

Although DeHeart was disappointed about losing in the semifinals of the tournament, he is already looking forward to the ITA National Indoor Championships, where he will defend his national title. He was also supportive of both the men competing for the singles title at All-Americans.

Poerschke lost to Georgia’s John Isner in the finals. Isner was the No. 4 tennis player in the nation when the tournament began. He won in straight sets 7-6(4), 7-6(3).

But although DeHeart advanced further into the tournament than any of the other Illinois athletes, Dancer is impressed with almost all of the men who competed.

Dancer said he is pleased with the way sophomore Kevin Anderson has battled through various injuries for the last few months and still performed well at the All-American Championships, which featured the best collegiate tennis players.

“When Kevin gets everything healthy he will be playing at a level that is a little frightening,” Dancer said.

DeHeart was the only current Illinois athlete playing who had been in the main draw of the All-American Championships before. Sophomore Ruben Gonzales reached the main draw of the doubles tournament for the first time, along with freshman Marc Spicijaric.

The duo, which advanced into the main draw by virtue of their success in the qualifying tournament, did not perform as well as they or Dancer would have liked.

“Their inexperience showed, and that can’t happen,” Dancer said.

But, Spicijaric said he believes the men, who did not fare as well as they would have liked to, can rebound with relative ease.

This was, after all, the first time the duo had joined forces for a competition. Spicijaric had been competing in doubles with sophomore Monte Tucker earlier this fall. Tucker did not compete in doubles during the All-American Championships. The differences between Tucker and Gonzales’ playing styles are startling too. Tucker is the more excitable of the two men. Gonzales’ presence had a calming affect on the tandem.

“It starts in practice, we have to practice more professionally and believe in ourselves,” Spicijaric said.

This tournament, the first national collegiate tournament of Spicijaric’s career opened the freshman’s eyes to the competitive nature of the individual athletes.

“Everybody is going to fight for every point,” he said. “Everyone is a good player – you don’t get a free match.”