Illinois (6-3) began its home stay with two big victories in a weekend doubleheader against North Carolina (7-3) and UIC (6-3) on Sunday. The Illini took the first matchup against the Tar Heels in a swift 4-1 win, only to come out just a couple hours later to defeat the Flames 6-1.
“That win was a team win with support from everyone,” wrote head coach Brad Dancer in a Fighting Illini Athletics press release on the UNC victory.
Keeping Tar Heels out of step
An ailing point for Illinois has been the early doubles point victories, capturing its most recent four games ago in its blowout win over Xavier.
However, the doubles opportunity against the Tar Heels proved to be in the Illini’s favor.
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After a rocky start to the season for the duo pairing of senior Kenta Miyoshi and freshman Adam Jilly, Miyoshi has been paired with different Illini for the doubles matchups. Recently, against Kentucky, Miyoshi was paired with freshman Sasha Colleu in an unfinished match.
For this match, Miyoshi found himself paired with the only other senior player, William Mroz. The combination by Dancer might have set the pair back on the winning track, as they easily won the first doubles match on Court 2, 6-2.
“Tremendous focus and courage from Will,” Dancer wrote in the press release.
Despite redshirt sophomore Zach Viiala and Colleu dropping Court 3 to the Tar Heels, freshman Gabriel Debru and redshirt junior Tyler Bowers captured Court 1 off two crucial aces from Debru to win the tiebreaker.
“That win falls squarely on Debru; he was a monster in doubles at the biggest moments,” Dancer wrote in the press release. “He was tenacious in singles. He was our leader today.”
Debru excelled on the singles court, capturing the first Illini win on Court 1 over UNC sophomore Chris Xu, going 6-2 twice in two sets.
Miyoshi’s singles troubles continued as the decorated senior fell on Court 2 against No. 115-ranked Roan Jones, 6-4, 6-2. This is Miyoshi’s third-straight singles loss after losing against Notre Dame and Kentucky.
Mroz and Viiala catapulted the Illini victory, winning on Courts 3 and 5, respectively. Both players got the team into the win column in just two sets.
Illini extinguish Flames
The Illini’s second matchup of the evening continued in their favor, with sheer dominance displayed in the doubles matchups.
Viiala, now paired with freshman David Bakonyi, claimed victory on Court 3 after originally falling against UNC. The duo grabbed a doubles bagel, going 6-0.
Miyoshi and Mroz were paired again for the matchup against the Flames, and their winning ways continued. The duo secured the doubles point for the Illini after winning Court 1, 6-1.
Going into singles, Bakonyi found his stride and completed the double bagel, going 6-0 twice, over freshman Henrique Sa on Court 6. Freshman Hayden Jones suffered defeat on court two to sophomore Eldin Nokic, marking two consecutive losses for the freshman.
Despite a mid-match push from the Flames, the Illini put out any chance of resurgence, winning four straight courts. The deluge started with junior Jeremy Zhang getting a two-set win on Court 4, including another bagel over sophomore Simon Knezevic.
Miyoshi ended his singles losing streak by winning on Court 1, 6-2, 6-2, over junior Artem Alekseychuk. Bowers and Viiala both won their courts in two sets, with Viiala being the final finisher for Illinois
Up next
Illinois will continue its two-week homestand as it hosts No. 6 Baylor and No. 7 TCU on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
