URBANA, Ill. – Illinois swept its Sunday doubleheader with wins over North Carolina and UIC at Atkins Tennis Center.
The Fighting Illini improved to 6-3 ahead of its final nonconference matches of the regular season next weekend.
Illinois 4, North Carolina 1
Illinois opened up its doubleheader with a 4-1 win over North Carolina.
The Illini took the doubles point and recorded singles wins at the No. 1, 3, and 5 spots, improving the Orange and Blue to 5-3 on the season.
"That win was a team win with support from everyone," said head coach Brad Dancer. "Tremendous focus and courage from Will and great to see Zach break out. That win falls squarely on Debru. He was a monster in doubles at the biggest moments. He was tenacious in singles. He was our leader today."
Illinois secured the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and 2 spots. Kenta Miyoshi and William Mroz were the first to finish with a 6-2 decision over North Carolina's Anthony Wright and Roan Jones. Gabriel Debru and Tyler Bowers then gutted out a back-and-forth 7-6(4) win against Chris Xu and Nick Mangiapane.
During singles play, Debru carried the momentum of the doubles match, making quick work of North Carolina's Chris Xu, 6-2, 6-2, on the top singles court. Zach Viiala followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kase Schinnerer to put the Illini up 3-1 over the Tar Heels.
Mroz clinched the victory for the Illini on court 3 with his first ranked win of the season, a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of No. 87 Ian Mayew.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: Gabriel Debru/Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. Chris Xu/Nick Mangiapane (UNC), 7-6(4)
No. 2: Kenta Miyoshi/William Mroz (Illinois) def. Anthony Wright/Roan Jones (UNC), 6-2
No. 3: Ian Mayew/Kase Schinnerer (UNC) def. Zach Viiala/Sasha Colleu (Illinois), 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1: Gabriel Debru (Illinois) def. Chris Xu (UNC), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2: No. 115 Roan Jones (North Carolina) def. No. 22 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3: William Mroz (Illinois) def. No. 87 Ian Mayew (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4: Sasha Colleu (Illinois) vs. Constantinos Djakouris (UNC), 4-6, 2-3, unfinished
No. 5: Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Kase Schinnerer (UNC), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6: Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) vs. Anthony Wright (North Carolina), 4-6, 4-2, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 3
Illinois 6, UIC 1
Illinois snagged its second win of the day with a 6-1 win against UIC.
The Illini won the doubles point and recorded singles wins at the No. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 positions. Illinois now moves to 6-3 on the season.
The Orange and Blue nabbed the doubles point with a 6-0 victory from Zach Viiala and David Bakonyi over Mihailo Savic and Victor Dorojan of UIC on court 3. They were quickly followed by Kenta Miyoshi and Will Mroz's 6-1 victory over Henrique Sa and Eldin Nokic.
During singles play, the Illini jumped out to an early lead via Bakonyi, on court six, securing a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sa.
Shortly after, both Jeremy Zhang and Tyler Bowers almost finished their matches simultaneously. Zhang grabbed a 6-0, 6-3 win over UIC's Simon Knezevic on court 4, and Bowers cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Emil Dapcevic on court 5.
The Illini took the winning 4-1 lead, but the two teams agreed to play the other matches out. Illinois took full advantage, with Miyoshi winning 6-4, 6-2 over Artem Alekseychuk on court one and Zach Viiala closing it out with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Savic on court three.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: Kenta Miyoshi/William Mroz (Illinois) def. Henrique Sa/Eldin Nokic (UIC), 6-1
No. 2: Gabriel Debru/Tyler Bowers (Illinois) vs. Artem Alekseychuk/Simon Knezevic (UIC), 5-2, unfinished
No. 3: Zach Viiala/David Bakonyi (Illinois) def. Mihailo Savic/Victor Dorojan (UIC), 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
No. 1: No. 22 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. Artem Alekseychuk (UIC), 6-4, 6-2
No. 2: Eldin Nokic (UIC) def. Hayden Jones (Illinois), 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Mihailo Savic (UIC), 7-5, 6-1
No. 4: Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Simon Knezevic (UIC), 6-0, 6-3
No. 5: Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. Emil Dapcevic (UIC), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6: David Bakonyi (Illinois) def. Henrique Sa (UIC), 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 2, 4, 5, 1, 3
UP NEXT
Illinois remains at Atkins Tennis Center next weekend for two top-10 matchups. The Illini will host No. 6 Baylor on Friday at 5 p.m. CT before taking on No. 7 TCU at home on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.
