After shutting out Illinois State 4-0 to start the day, the newly-ranked No. 13 Illinois men’s tennis team dropped to 7-4 on the season in a 4-1 loss to Notre Dame.

In the morning against the Redbirds, winning duos of freshman Alex Jesse and sophomore Farris Gosea alongside sophomores Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski took two of three courts to pinch their third consecutive doubles point.

“They kicked our butts at No. 3 doubles, so that put a lot of pressure on the other two doubles right away,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “I think that was a good test for our doubles to sharpen us up a bit.”

Kopinski and Gosea fed off their doubles energy to claim quick singles victories while freshman Brian Page redeemed his previous loss against then-No. 20 Northwestern with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Redbirds’ Jacob Wilson.

“From the top of the lineup to the bottom of the lineup, I think our team is really competitive and really emotionally engages our opponent,” senior Stephen Hoh said. 

Kopinski said the Redbirds put up tough battles on all courts, but the Illini’s overall preparation for the matches gave them the leg up.

After starting the day on a good note, the Illini tried to bring similar energy into their night match, but the Irish were fresh and ready for their first match of the day.

This time, Jesse and Gosea were taken down 8-5 followed shortly by freshman Jared Hiltzik and senior Bruno Abdelnour of the same deficit. Both defeats cut short duo Kopinski’s and Guignon’s 4-3 battle as they struggled to get on top.

“We’re weak (in doubles),” Dancer said. “We’ve won four of 11, and that’s just not going to cut it.”

An Irish victory in doubles tipped the momentum, showing in nearly every court of singles competition. Hiltzik, ranked No. 37 in ITA singles and named the Big Ten’s Athlete of the Week, clinched the lone point for Illinois in a 6-4, 6-3 win. Hiltzik has put up a 3-0 record in singles in the past week and has won crucial singles points for the team all season, including the winning point in the match against then-No. 5 Duke.

In the end though, it was the Irish who claimed the match, defeating Abdelnour, Gosea and Guignon and leaving the other two unfinished.

“Notre Dame was resilient,” Dancer said. “Looking back, the coaches made some mistakes in terms of just how we did our lineup. I think the guys played really hard, played with tremendous spirit, it was a terrific college tennis match, and I was certainly proud of our guys’ effort.”

Illinois will have the next 10 days to pick up the pieces before taking on the top-two ranked teams in the country — No. 1 Virginia and No. 2 USC.

“We’re going to prepare as hard as we possible can,” Dancer said. “We certainly understand that a win over both of those teams would have a huge impact for this season, and even a win over one of those teams would have a big impact. It’s an opportunity on our home courts to make that statement and play as best as we can.”

J.J. can be reached at [email protected] and @TheWilson9287.