Huskers Fall to No. 7 Fighting Illini

Lincoln, Neb. -- The Nebraska men's tennis team was defeated by No. 7 Illinois 6-1. The Huskers fall to 9-8 and 0-5 in Big Ten play.

In doubles play, in the No. 1 position, Linus Erhart and Toby Boyer defeated No. 47 Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik 6-3. Micah Klousia and William Grattan-Smith sealed the second straight doubles point for the Huskers with a 7-5 win over Vuk Budic and Alex Brown in the No. 3 position. Chris Dean and Dylan Bednarczyk went unfinished in the No. 2 position tied 5-5.

In singles play, in the No. 2 position Erhart fell to No. 59 Brown 6-2, 6-4. Klousia fell to Aleks Kovacevic 6-3, 6-2. In the No. 5 position freshman Isaac Nortey fell to Zeke Clark 6-1, 6-3. Boyer in the No. 1 position fell to No. 20 Vukic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Bednarczyk was defeated by No. 100 Hiltzik 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 3 spot. In the No. 6 position, Grattan-Smith fell to Budic 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

The Huskers will hit the road for three matches over the weekend starting with a match against Penn State on Saturday, April 7 at 11 a.m. and then a match against No. 2 Ohio State at 11 a.m. and a match against Dayton at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 8. The Big Red will return home on Friday, April 13 for a match against Purdue at the Dillon Tennis Center. 

Doubles Results:

1. Boyer/ Erhart (NEB) def. No. 47 Vukic/ Hiltzik (ILL) 6-3
2. Bednarczyk/ Dean (NEB) vs. Clark/ Kovaceviz (ILL) Unfinished
3. Grattan-Smith/ Klousia (NEB) def. Budic/ Brown (ILL) 7-5

Order of Finish: 1,3

Singles Results:

1. No. 20 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Toby Boyer (NEB) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
2. No. 59 Alex Brown (ILL) def. Linus Erhart (NEB) 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 100 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. Dylan Bednarczyk (NEB) 6-2, 6-4
4. Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) def. Micah Klousia (NEB) 6-3, 6-2
5. Zeke Clark (ILL) def. Isaac Nortey (NEB) 6-1, 6-3
6. Vuk Budic (ILL) def. William Grattan-Smith (NEB) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4

Order of Finish: 2,4,5,1,3,6