April 4, 2002
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In its first Big Ten Conference loss of the season, the No. 37 Northwestern men's tennis team was shut out, 7-0, by No. 3 Illinois.
The 'Cats (11-5, 4-1) could not match up with four nationally ranked opponents and the No. 5 doubles team. Senior Jamie Sahara (Santa Maria, Calif./St. Joseph) almost staved off the shutout, taking his three-set match with No. 73 Matt Stolt to a pair of tiebreakers.
Sahara dropped the first set at the No. 3 singles position 6-2, but rallied for a 7-6(5) win in the second. He was up 4-3 in the third set before Stolt caught up at 5-5. Another tiebreaker proved to be close but Sahara was unable to secure the final points and lost 7-6(5).
Seniors Joost Hol (Newport Beach, Calif./Foothill) and Ryan Edlefsen (Eden Prairie, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) each looked strong despite their losses. Hol took his opponent, Chris Martin, to a tiebreaker in the first set at the No. 6 position, while head coach Paul Torricelli praised Edlefsen's play against the No. 12 player in the country, Amer Delic.
Freshman Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) had his four-match win streak at the No. 1 position snapped by No. 48 Brian Wilson, 6-1, 6-4.
No. 118 Hanus started off the evening on fire in the doubles portion of the match, as he and Russell Bennett (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) took on the No. 5 team of Delic and Mike Calkins, who also are each nationally ranked as singles players. NU took an early 2-0 lead and held it until the Illini caught up at 5-5. Hanus and Bennett were unable to sustain the momentum and fell 8-6.
"I give a lot of credit to Illinois," Torricelli said. "They are a very good team."
After his lengthy match, Sahara added, "To be able to see the level of a team that could potentially be in the national championship is good. Being able to play with them, especially in close second sets, gives me confidence."
NU travels to Iowa Saturday for a 1 p.m. match.
No. 3 Illinois 7, No. 37 Northwestern 0
Doubles
1. No. 5 Amer Delic/Mike Calkins, UI def. Tommy Hanus/Russell Bennett, 8-6
2. Phil Stolt/Brian Wilson, UI def. Jackie Jenkins/Chuck Perrin, 8-3
3. Mike Kosta/Nathan Zeder, UI def. Ryan Edlefsen/Josh Axler, 8-2
Singles
1. No. 48 Brian Wilson, UI def. No. 118 Tommy Hanus, 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 12 Amer Delic, UI def. Ryan Edlefsen, 6-3, 6-4
3. No. 73 Phil Stolt, UI def. Jamie Sahara, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(5)
4. Mike Kosta, UI def. Jackie Jenkins, 6-1, 6-1
5. Nathan Zeder, UI def. Josh Axler, 6-3, 6-3
6. Chris Martin, UI def. Joost Hol, 7-6(5), 6-2