University of Toledo men's tennis falls to Illinois 4-1 in NCAA first round

LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the second straight season, the University of Toledo men’s tennis team saw its season end at the hands of a Big Ten opponent in the first round of the NCAA tournament, falling 4-1 against Illinois on Friday.

Last season, after winning its first Mid-American Conference title since 1973, Toledo was beaten by Michigan in Ann Arbor in the tournament’s first round.

During Friday’s match, the Illini picked up the doubles point with a pair of match wins. Mathis Debru and Kenta Miyoshi defeated Toledo’s Adam Kovac and Charlie Snow 6-1 in one match, then Illinois’ Lucas Horve and Oliver Okonkwo bested the Rockets’ Hanamichi Carvajal and Poonthong Komolpisut by a 6-2 final, clinching the point.

The first doubles match was knotted at 4 when Illinois secured its point.

In singles, the No. 4 match finished first, which saw Illinois’ William Mroz defeat Kovac 7-6 (7), 6-1. The No. 2 singles match was next to end, with Okonkwo besting UT’s Marko Galic 7-6 (7), 6-3.

Then the Rockets picked up their lone point in No. 3 singles. Carvajal won 7-6 (8), 7-6 (9) over Debru.

Illinois finished off Toledo in No. 1 singles — the only match to go more than two sets — as Miyoshi defeated UT’s Pawit Sornlaksup in three: 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Komolpisut had won the first set in No. 5 singles and Matias Olivero held a first-set lead for UT in No. 6 singles when play was stopped.

"Incredible effort," Toledo coach Al Wermer said after the match. "We pushed Illinois all the way today. It was a great match to be part of. We told the guys to go out and leave it all out there, and that's what they did. I'm so proud of the way they responded to adversity all season."