University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois
Players Mentioned
Gophers Fall to No. 8 Illinois
2/28/2021 3:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Minnesota is set to host Wisconsin next weekend at Baseline Tennis Center
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Gophers dropped their match to the eighth-ranked Fighting Illini by a score of 5-2 on Sunday afternoon. It was Minnesota's third-straight ranked opponent, in which they went 1-2 during that stretch.
After splitting the home-opening weekend, the Gophers will fall to 1-3 on the season. Illinois will bounce to 6-2 on the year after today's win.
Doubles Play
Vlad Lobak and Siim Troost continued their strong start to their season with another big doubles win, this time defeating the pairing of Siphosothando Montsi and Kweisi Kenyatte by a score of 6-4.
However that was the only doubles win that the Gophers earned on Sunday afternoon. The pairing of Jackson Allen and Sebastian Vile dropped their match 6-1, while Kaleb Dobbs and Daniel Martin suffered a tough 7-5 loss in the match that decided the doubles point.
Singles Play
Sebastian Vile and Daniel Martin were the lone winners in singles action on Sunday afternoon. Vile continued his successful weekend by winning in straight sets over the Illini's Noe Khlif, While Daniel Martin came back in his match to win in three sets by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The four singles losses for the Gophers all came against ranked singles opponents. Jackson Allen and Siim Troost dropped their matches in straight sets, while Vlad Lobak and Dylan Heap were able to push their matches to three sets, but ultimately fell in their contests.
Notable:
After going undefeated in singles play throughout the home-opening weekend, Sebastian Vile has jumped to a singles record of 5-2 on the season, which leads the team.
Sunday's win for Vile also gave him his 25th career singles victory, pushing him to 25-19 over the course of his career.
Quotable:
"Proud of the team's effort today," head coach Geoff Young said. "We're definitely improving as a team."
What's next?
The Gophers will return to Baseline Tennis Center on Saturday, March 6 to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, before heading on the road for two away matches the following weekend.