For the last three years, the Illinois men’s tennis team has dominated the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional tournament, taking home four of six possible championships. This year would not be so easy.

Marc Spicijaric was the last eliminated from the tournament, falling 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 to Devin Mullings of Ohio State, ending a run in which no Illinois member made it past the quarterfinals.

The doubles champions and the two singles finalists at the regional qualify for the ITA National Indoor Championships in November.

Coming into the event, Illinois had won the last three doubles titles and the 2004 singles title.

The men played without Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe, their top doubles team and highest-ranked singles players, who had already qualified for Indoors.

The coaches also decided to take the team’s lone senior, GD Jones, out of the singles draw while he recovers from an injury.

“I wouldn’t compare it to past years because we only had half our team there,” head coach Brad Dancer said.

Without his higher-ranked teammates, Spicijaric emerged from a talented crop of lower-ranked Illinois singles players. After an easy first-round win, he saved two match points to beat Justin Kronauge of Ohio State, then was in top form in stopping Matko Maravic of Michigan in straight sets.

Against Mullings, Spicijaric recovered from a 3-0 hole in the third to serve for the match at 5-4 before eventually falling.

“I feel good about the way I played,” Spicijaric said. “I made the finals last week in Texas, and the quarters now in a really strong regional tournament. Obviously I really would have liked to at least make the finals here, but the way I’m playing – I’ve just improved so much. I feel confident going forward.”

The team’s prospects looked better in doubles, featuring two past champions in Spicijaric (2005) and Jones (2004).

But Spicijaric and freshman Billy Heiser fell in the first round, and Jones and junior Brandon Davis lost in the quarterfinals to the second-seeded team from Notre Dame.

“We definitely could have beaten that team if we were a little bit sharper,” Davis said. “We put together a few good matches, so it was a good start, but disappointing in the end.”

Mullings, one of Ohio State’s top singles players, was a problem all weekend for the Illini.

He beat Billy Heiser in the first round as Illinois went 2-3 in the team’s first taste of its rivals this year.

“It’s always pretty heated when we play them, always a tense battle,” Davis said. “They’re always gunning for us. They are our rivals, and we just don’t like them.”

Mullings, a senior, is part of what Dancer called a maturation of the talent in the Midwest. Spicijaric, a sophomore, was the only underclassman to make the quarterfinals of the singles draw.

“There’s some really good, experienced players out there,” Dancer said.

“We’re definitely a stronger region this year from a singles standpoint,” Dancer said.

But Jones, frustrated after his doubles loss, refused to accept that the region had caught up to Illinois.

“The competition has always been pretty decent, and I don’t think this year is really that exceptional,” Jones said. “Outside of us and Ohio State and a few players at Notre Dame, it’s not really that strong. It’s very disappointing because I felt like we had a good chance to win.”