April 24, 2005
Iowa City, IA – The Iowa men’s tennis team was unable to win their last home match of the season, losing 7-0 to 4th-ranked Illinois on Sunday. With the win, Illinois moved to 10-0 in conference play, earning the Big Ten regular season crown. Iowa concludes conference play with a record of 2-8.
On a windy afternoon, Illinois jumped out to a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. Iowa’s closest match of the day occurred at No. 1 doubles where juniors Kyle Markham and Brett Taylor lost an 8-5 decision to Ryler DeHeart and Pramod Dabir.
Illinois showed why they are one of the premiere teams in the country in singles play, winning all six matches in straight sets. The Hawkeyes were competitive, but could not gain any momentum in the singles matches. At No. 1 singles, junior Chaitu Malempati lost a 6-3, 6-1 decision to 7th-ranked DeHeart. Markham also faced tough competition, falling 6-2, 6-1 to 28th-ranked GD Jones.
“Despite the loss, we’ve made substantial improvement this year,” noted Head Coach Steve Houghton. “We went from three wins last year to ten this year and we have a bright future.”
Iowa’s immediate future includes a trip to The Atkins Tennis Center on the campus of The University of Illinois to compete in the Big Ten Championships on Thursday. The Hawkeyes enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed. Iowa’s opponent is yet to be determined.
RESULTS
IOWA 0
#4 Illinois 7
Doubles
No.1 DeHeart/Dabir (ILL) def. Markham/Taylor (IOWA) 8-5
No. 2 Jones/Martin (ILL) def. Malempati/Schaechterle (IOWA) 8-3
No. 3 Zeder/Davis (ILL) def. Ritchie/van Monsjou (IOWA) 8-0
Singles
No. 1 #7 Ryler Deheart (ILL) def. Chaitu Malempati (IOWA) 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 #28 GD Jones (ILL) def. Kyle Markham (IOWA) 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Chris Martin (ILL) def. Bart van Monsjou (IOWA) 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Brett Taylor (IOWA) 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Evan Zeder (ILL) def. Jonny Hoak (IOWA) 6-2, 6-4