Four of Illini football’s finest set aside their cleats and took up tennis Saturday night, playing an exhibition match between the doubles and singles competitions as Illinois men’s tennis took on Texas A&M.;

Sophomore cornerbacks Vontae Davis, receiver Chris James and quarterback Juice Williams and freshman receiver Rejus Benn paired off for a battle of the Illini’s most fertile recruiting grounds. Benn and Davis, teammates at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., represented the nation’s capitol on one side of the net, while James and Williams played in the name of Chicago.

“It was fun being out there, seeing everybody cheer, just having a little playground competitive sport going on,” Williams said.

While few serves were returned, or even landed in bounds, the Chicago duo dominated the competition, winning 7-3.

“Chicago comes from a long line of tradition in the athletic world,” Williams said. “Me and Chris James, my brother here, we came up with a game plan and we stuck to it.”

What was that game plan?

“Hit the ball in the blue,” Williams said.

The football players admitted they didn’t exactly practice for their big match, but said they did manage to rehearse their victory dances and grand entrances.

Williams made the biggest splash as he stepped onto the court, drawing cheers from the large Illini Pride contingent present – cheers Davis said proved the Chicago team had a home-court advantage.

“They were favored, I heard that ‘Juuuice’ cheer, but it’s OK, we’re going to come out on top,” Davis said. “They’ve got their home crowd behind them, but being from D.C. we just need each other. As long as we’ve got each other we’re going to make it.”

James said it wasn’t crowd favoritism but rather his experience as the Morgan Park High School gym class tennis champion that gave him an edge over his out of town competition. While he thought he’d retired from competitive tennis, James says he used those gym class skills to continue his winning ways.

“I couldn’t serve overhand, so I decided to serve underhand, and that made a difference,” James said. “I did it in gym before, so I thought it would work now.”

After working up a sweat on the tennsis courts, the Illini quartet picked the winners of a fan costume competition.

When everything was done, James and Williams celebrated their victory while the Dunbar duo planned to prepare for a potential rematch.

“We don’t come from a losing tradition, so when we lose, it’s a heartbreak,” Benn said.

“We’re probably going to go home, do some sit-ups. We’re going to get back in the weight room starting Monday, work on that overhand serve. Get back to it,” he added.

The Illini have some time to focus on their tennis skills, with spring football practice still six weeks away.

“Rejus and Vontae are two great athletes; they came out, they played hard, it was a tough game, but we just came out on top,” Williams said. “I have a lot of respect for those guys, I hope we see them in the future.”