The reign is over.

After winning the ITA Midwest Regional doubles title last year, the Illinois men’s tennis team was unable to advance past semifinals in both doubles and singles at this year’s competition.

Unlike last year, junior Tim Kopinski was paired with fellow junior Ross Guignon as the No. 1 after experiencing success in the spring last season. His former partner, junior Farris Gosea, teamed up with sophomore Alex Jesse to form the second unit of the Illini’s two doubles tandem and claim the No. 8 seed.

New pairings were enough to send both Illini duos to the quarterfinals, but Notre Dame’s No. 4-seeded pair of Alex Lawson and Greg Andrews proved too much. Lawson and Andrews downed Jesse and Gosea 8-5 in the quarterfinals before overcoming Kopinski and Guignon in a semifinal tiebreaker at 8-7 (5).

“It was just tough competition,” Guignon said. “We played all right. We just didn’t capitalize. But it’s good to learn from these types of matches moving forward.”

Although Illinois’ singles game sent two into the semifinals last year, 10-seeded Gosea was the only one to make it that far after defeating No. 3-seeded teammate Kopinski in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-1. Up against the top-seeded Peter Kobelt of Ohio State, though, Gosea suffered straight-set losses at 6-1, 6-4 to end the Illini’s run.

Before regionals, head coach Brad Dancer said he felt his team was capable of winning both ends of regionals, which amplified the disappointment associate head coach Marcos Asse expressed following the Illini’s exit.

“I think we play any tournament going in to win,” Asse said. “We were disappointed, especially in doubles. We got a little unlucky, and you’re only unlucky if you combine that with full execution. We can pretty much get past any bad luck with good execution.”

Asse, who accompanied the Illini in place of Dancer, said Gosea beat all the players he should have beaten but struggled against the tougher tier of players like Kobelt.

“Farris has the skills to do everything on the tennis court,” Asse said. “He just needs to put his mind in it.

“He’s just seeing what works and what doesn’t, and what works against weaker teams isn’t always going to work all the time against stronger teams.”

The ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships will punctuate the fall season for the Illini; although, it is uncertain whether Gosea will receive a bid for the tournament after this weekend’s finish.

Illinois has qualified Kopinski and Guignon as a doubles pair and sophomore Jared Hiltzik in singles.

“It’s a big tournament, it’s a big deal and it’s a lot of fun, but ultimately, it’s a stepping stone for the spring season and toward our ultimate goal of becoming elite tennis players,” Guignon said. “For right now, we’re really just trying to better ourselves.”

J.J. can be reached at [email protected] and @Wilsonable07.