No. 23 Illinois (10-6, 4-2) split a tough weekend series against two new Big Ten foes. It marked the first time UCLA (6-6, 4-0) and USC (9-5, 3-1) made the trip to Champaign since joining the conference last year. Illinois opened with a tough 4-1 loss to UCLA Friday night but rebounded with an impressive 4-2 victory over USC Sunday afternoon.
UCLA takes control early
The Illini suffered their first home loss of the season as the Bruins controlled the match from the start. While junior Kenta Miyoshi and redshirt sophomore Tyler Bowers continued their strong partnership with a win at No. 1 doubles, UCLA rebounded. It took the No. 2 and No. 3 matches to secure the doubles point and an early lead.
As Illinois looked to mount a comeback in singles, UCLA struck early with victories from senior Alexander Hoogmartens and junior No. 120 Aadarsh Tripathi at No. 4 and No. 5 singles. This extended the Bruins’ lead to 3-0. Then, the Illini finally got on the board when senior Mathis Debru continued his strong season. He earned his fifth straight singles victory and improved to 10-2 in dual play.
However, Illinois struggled to build momentum off Debru’s win. Redshirt sophomore and No. 75 Emon van Loben Sels cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over sophomore Jeremy Zhang, clinching a 4-1 win for the Bruins. Illinois’ top-ranked players, junior No. 16 Miyoshi and redshirt junior No. 62 William Mroz, saw their matches go unfinished despite both holding leads before play was halted.
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The weekend wasn’t all bad, as the Illini rallied over the Trojans Sunday afternoon. Their home record improved to 6-1 with this triumph.
Illinois bounces back against USC
The Illini set the tone early and won the doubles point for the fifth time in the conference play. While the Trojans got things started with a win on court three, Bowers and Miyoshi won their fourth straight doubles match with a 6-4 win.
The doubles point came down to court two, where redshirt freshman Zach Viiala and Mroz outdueled USC’s sophomore Volodymyr Iakubenko and junior Oscar Weightman. Locked at 5-5, Viiala and Mroz held serve to edge ahead 6-5. The Illini pair mounted a clutch comeback after facing a 0-40 deficit in the next game and won four straight points to claim a 7-5 victory and put Illinois up 1-0 in the dual.
Dancer on doubles strength
Head coach Brad Dancer was asked about the growth and overall strength of the Bowers-Miyoshi doubles duo. Despite their success, he still thinks they have a ways to go.
“I don’t think they’re playing their best yet,” Dancer said. “I think a couple matches ago, they started trusting together; using each other for their serve plays instead of trying to win the point by themselves. And so I think that’s been a really good thing, is the trust in each other and just the working together on setting each other up and not trying to win it all by themselves — just teamwork more than anything else.”
Miyoshi clinches victory
After splitting the next four matches to make it 3-2, Miyoshi delivered again. After an early break in the sixth put him up 4-2 in the second set, he held on for a 6-3 victory and ultimately secured Illinois’ 4-2 win.
Dancer reflects
When asked about the adjustments needed to bounce back from the UCLA loss and take down USC, Dancer pointed to the coaching staff rather than his players.
“It falls on the coaches,” Dancer said. “If the team’s not playing well in the first match of the weekend, then we’re not preparing the guys well enough … Credit to our guys for their response, but coaches gotta do a better job.”
With two decades at the helm, Dancer continues to hold himself and his staff to a high standard.
Home court advantage
Despite an early loss to UCLA, Illinois bounced back with a nearly perfect record at home. Atkins Tennis Center, with a seating capacity of 3,800, has been the team’s home since it opened in 1991.
“Atkins, when we’re inside, it’s loud — all these aspects to it,” Dancer said. “But if you asked the guys, they’d say we didn’t defend it well. We think we could’ve gone undefeated, and that will be our goal the rest of the way: to defend home court.”
With several key matches ahead, the Illini focus on protecting their home advantage and using the energy from their fans to drive their success.
On to Evanston
This upcoming Saturday, Illinois will face Northwestern (10-10, 3-3) on the road at 12 p.m.
