After a successful homestand, No. 16 Illinois (6-3) split its Lone Star State road trip this past weekend. It was a story of two halves on Saturday: Illinois swept UTRGV (2-10) in a morning dual and then got sent home by No. 17 Baylor (10-6) in an evening battle.
Illinois’ losses this season have come from ranked teams on the road. After securing a clean 2-0 sweep in its first doubleheader, there are some key takeaways from Illinois’ second doubleheader this season. These will be essential focus points before Big Ten matchups start.
Doubles not perfect
Illinois broke a five-game doubles losing streak in its dual against No. 14 Michigan (6-6). Lineup changes worked as Illinois beat UTRGV to win consecutive doubles matches for the first time this season. In Illinois’ first sweep of the season, a dominant doubles win helped set the tone for the remainder of the match.
“Our guys did a great job … in the doubles against UTRGV,” said head coach Brad Dancer. “Then a couple of guys, particularly sophomore Jeremy Zhang, was incredibly focused on his singles, and that was a big high point for us in the match.”
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The duo of redshirt sophomore Tyler Bowers and redshirt freshman Zach Viiala put on a dominant 6-2 win on court one. Despite an early 3-0 deficit on court two, junior Kenta Miyoshi and redshirt junior William Mroz kept fighting. They eventually secured a 7-5 win to secure the doubles point. Senior Mathis Debru and freshman Max Mroz took the game right down to the wire with a 6-6 scoreline.
“We got off to a really slow start in the doubles,” Dancer said. “We were down a break on a couple of courts, and so our guys battled back into that. We’ve been talking a lot about not getting ahead, not worrying about the past, just staying in the moment.”
The tables turned in the evening dual. Baylor’s No. 12 senior duo, Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Miladinovic, shut down Bowers and Viiala 6-3, almost flipping their afternoon score. On court two, Miyoshi and William Mroz struggled to keep up with Baylor, losing 6-4.
“When you lose the doubles point, that puts you behind the eight ball a little bit, and so we have to figure out a way to get better in doubles,” Dancer said. “If we can do that, then that’s a situation where we won’t be digging ourselves out of that hole in singles. But the guys are responding well, and they are resilient and tough.”
Playing only his third doubles match, Max Mroz brought the same energy from the Michigan match. Court three saw the game go down to 5-4 before being abandoned. Despite what turned out to be a decisive doubles loss to Baylor, the Illini can smile about all of their duos working well. Courts one and two won games this weekend, while court three showed intent to fight it out.
After the Michigan dual, Max Mroz thanked everyone in attendance for their support. As he walked down, fist bumping and shaking hands with fans, intent and appreciation toward his opportunity were visible.
“Max is a fantastic person, and we believe in his ability,” Dancer said. “He’s still got freshman growing pains, but his ownership of things is getting better, and that’s what he’s got to do. He’s got to own his vision, his progression as he moves forward.”
Illinois’ lone star in singles
No. 12 Miyoshi has now won six straight singles matches. He completed a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory in the morning dual. Up against a ranked opponent in the Baylor dual, Miyoshi took No. 35 sophomore Devin Badenhorst with another decisive victory earned in two sets.
Miyoshi has now wrapped up six two-set singles matches. He serves as Illinois’ driving force on court one. His win against Badenhorst was also his fourth ranked win of the season.
Miyoshi grabbed Illinois’ only point in the dual against Baylor. Two unfinished matches in which the Illini were ahead didn’t help. The Bears were able to wrap up three quick singles wins to boost them to four points and force a win.
“Kenta’s been great, but it’s always tricky when you stop the match,” Dancer said. “Zach was a few points away from winning. Will was a few points away from winning. If Mathis was able to win that set tiebreaker, then I think that whole match looks very different.”
Columbus pit stop
Before Illinois starts this season’s conference games, it will face off against No. 3 Ohio State (10-2) on Wednesday. This will be a frightening opposition and Illinois’ second top-10 matchup of the season. This serves as an intimidating but exciting opportunity for Illinois to get battle-tested before the conference games come at them hard and fast.
