The Illinois men’s tennis team is accustomed to being the best in the nation.

On Sunday, No. 4-ranked Illinois upended top-ranked Virginia 5-2 on their home courts at the Atkins Tennis Center.

“The win shows what I knew all along – that this team is a national contender,” said Illinois senior Ryler DeHeart, whose experience was key during the intense competition.

DeHeart and sophomore Ruben Gonzales showed their abililty to perform well under pressure when the doubles point was up for grabs.

They defeated Rylan Rizza and Nick Meythaler 9-7 (5) in front of a standing room only crowd. DeHeart said he felt the men’s ability to capitalize in doubles and gain momentum heading into singles was crucial to the outcome.

After winning the doubles point, the Illini went on to claim three singles victories in straight sets. DeHeart topped two-time All-American Doug Stewart 7-6 (3), 3-6, 10-7. Junior GD Jones and Gonzales lost their singles matches.

“We were capable of winning this match by even more of a score margin,” Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. “We don’t want to stay status quo. We want to keep growing.”

Virginia, which returned six seniors from last year’s team that advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, will use the match as a learning experience, said head coach Brian Boland.

“Give credit to Illinois, they played well and they deserved to win,” Boland said. “We need matches like this; we’re just better because of this.”

The Cavaliers and the Illini will most likely see each other again at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Team Championships in Seattle, Wash., next month.

Illinois is now 2-0 for the season, after blanking No. 68 Ball State on Saturday. Virginia fell to 4-2. The Cavaliers lost to Pepperdine in their season-opening match.

During Illinois’ 7-0 sweep of Ball State, sophomores Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe established their dominance as a young doubles team. Rowe served an ace to defeat the nation’s No. 4 doubles team of Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson 8-3.

“In the end, I think our serves dominated and Kevin (Anderson) played really well at the net,” Rowe said. “Both of us worked really hard and it went our way.”

Saturday also marked Jones’ much-anticipated return to the lineup. The junior has not played for the Illini since the NCAA tournament in May because of injury. Although he had not played recently, Jones and sophomore Brandon Davis easily dispatched Ball State’s Joe Epkey and Joe Vallee 8-6, to clinch the doubles point for Illinois.

“I’m not expecting miracles, I’m just expecting to go out and play decently,” Jones said.

Freshman Marc Spicijaric made his debut for the Illini as well, defeating Jan Polhamus 6-4, 6-2. Despite his initial nerves, Spicijaric was able to control the match with his forehand, which Polhamus could not find an answer for.

“I’m just glad to get my first match out of the way,” Spicijaric said. “Having the team there was the biggest factor. Playing for the team, I just got so fired up.”