College Tennis News - Four Illini Victorious on Day One of JSM Challenger

URBANA, Ill. - Four Fighting Illini advanced to the second qualifying round of the JSM Challenger Saturday at Atkins Tennis Center. Senior Stephen Hoh and freshmen Julian Childers, Alex Jesse and Jared Hiltzik each picked up victories on day one of the eight-day tournament.

"We had some challenging matches today," Illini head coach Brad Dancer said. "It was good to see Alex and Jared prevail in three-setters after both losing their first sets. I like to see the resilience in those two guys. Having four guys advance today was definitely positive, and we'll see if we can have more advancements tomorrow."

Hoh took down fellow Illini Ross Guignon, 6-2, 6-2, while Childers topped Spencer Vegosen, 6-3, 7-5. Jesse edged Pavel Krainik, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4, and Hiltzik came out on top in a 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2 thriller over Tyler Hochwalt.

The four Illini will return to action tomorrow for a chance to join former Illinois standout and two-time All-American Dennis Nevolo and current sophomore Tim Kopinski in the main singles draw, which was released Saturday night.

The second qualifying round of singles play begins tomorrow at 10 a.m., followed by doubles qualifying in the afternoon. The main singles draw begins Monday.

The JSM Challenger marks the final event of the USTA Pro Circuit season. Action will be streamed live at procircuit.usta.com.

Mens  Qualifying Singles - First Round
C Guccione (AUS) def. [WC] B Abdel Nour (Abdelnour) (SYR) 6-1, 6-4 
D Nguyen (USA) def. P Simmonds (USA) 6-7(6) 7-5, 6-3 
D Rice (GBR) def. S Thornley (GBR) 6-1, 6-3 
E Quigley (USA) def. L Gregorc (SLO) 7-5, 7-6(2)
S Hoh (AUS) def. [WC] R Guignon (USA) 6-2, 6-2
J Peers (AUS) def. [WC] F Ghasya (Gosea) (LBA) 7-6(8), 6-3
S Sweeney (USA) def. [WC] E Schacht (USA) 6-0, 1-0 Retired
A Daescu (ROU) def. [WC] B Page Jr. (USA) 6-1, 6-1 
[WC] J Childers (USA) def. [WC] S Vegosen (USA) 6-3, 7-5 
[WC] A Jesse (USA) def. P Krainik (CAN) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
A Carter (USA) def. [WC] S Holt (GBR) 6-1, 6-1 
[WC] J Hiltzik (USA) def. T Hochwalt (USA) 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2

Admission
Nov. 11-14 (Sunday-Wednesday) - Free
Nov. 15-16 (Thursday-Friday) - $5 for adults; $3 for children
Nov. 17 (Saturday) - $7 for adults; $5 for children