GAINESVILLE, FL. -The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team (3-7, 0-0 NEC) came up short on the road against the University of Illinois (5-8, 0-0 B1G) 4-0 at the Akinis Tennis Complex on Wednesday afternoon.
Doubles action kicked things off, as Illinois' duo of Hunter Heck and Lucas Horve knocked off senior Mehdi Dhouib and sophomore Younes Adnane, 6-1, in the No. 1 spot. The Fighting Illini followed that up with a victory in the No. 2 spot as Siphosothando Montsi and Oliver Stuart defeated the Knights' redshirt senior Niclas Pietsch and sophomore Arjun Sriram, 6-1. Graduate student Moric Budinszky and freshman Justas Trainauskas battled in the No. 3 spot before the match was called with the team down 4-3, and the doubles point was awarded to Illinois.
In singles action, freshman Thomas Linley dropped the first match to Nic Meister in the No. 6 spot, 6-3, 6-0, to go down 2-0. In the No. 5 spot, Budinszky also fell to Horve in two sets, 6-0, 6-2, to extend the Fighting Illini lead to 3-0. Gabrielus Guzauskas clinched the victory for Illinois as he downed Pietsch in consecutive sets, 6-0, 6-4. Dhouib was the only Knight to take a set in singles action, but his match and the other two with Sriram and Trainauskas went unfinished after the match was called.
Up Next
The Burgundy and Blue will travel to Queens, N.Y. to face Queens College on Monday, March 21, at the Queens College Indoor Tennis Center.
Box Score
Singles
1. Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) vs. TRAINAUSKAS, Justas (FDU) 6-1, 5-4, unfinished
2. Alex Brown (ILL) vs. DHOUIB, Mehdi (FDU) 1-6, 2-5, unfinished
3. Hunter Heck (ILL) vs. SRIRAM, Arjun (FDU) 6-4, 4-0, unfinished
4. Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL) def. PIETSCH, Niclas (FDU) 6-0, 6-4
5. Lucas Horve (ILL) def. BUDINSZKY, Moric (FDU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Nic Meister (ILL) def. LINLEY, Thomas (FDU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Hunter Heck/Lucas Horve (ILL) def. DHOUIB, Mehdi/ADNANE, Younes (FDU) 6-1
2. Siphosothando Montsi/Olivier Stuart (ILL) def. PIETSCH, Niclas/SRIRAM, Arjun (FDU) 6-1
3. Gabrielus Guzauskas/Alex Brown (ILL) vs. BUDINSZKY, Moric/TRAINAUSKAS, Justas (FDU) 4-3, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,5,4)
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