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Illinois,
Penn StateWe are coming up one the 1 year anniversary of one of the odder things that has happened in college tennis in the last several years.
Last year on March 28th, Illinois and Penn State played an exhausting dual match in State College that lasted just under 6 hours (4 indoor courts) and ended with the Illini coming out on top thanks to Julian Childers coming back from a set down to win in 3. After the match each coach praised the other team and talked about how great a match it was – I mean why wouldn’t they after spending almost 6 hours together.
So why is all this so strange? It’s strange because 5 days later the Big 10 overturned the decision due to a Penn State protest based off Illinois playing it’s highest ranked player, Jared Hiltzik, at #1 singles. Hiltzik had been out of action for 6 weeks recovering from an injury and was soundly beaten by Leonard Stakhovsky in his return to the court. The Big 10 coaches felt that playing a less than 100% Hiltzik at #1 was a line-up stack giving the Illini a better chance at each of the remaining courts. The coaches felt that Hiltzik should have played at 2 with Farris Gosea at 1.
UPDATE: After writing this I found out some more details that I wanted to share. The Big 10, like several other conferences, requires the coaches to submit their lineups early in the week for the upcoming matches and after the submission there is a challenge process. It was during the challenge process, several days before the match, that the other Big 10 coaches voted down the Illinois lineup and made them change it to show Gosea at 1 and Hiltzik at 2. Despite having its originally submitted lineup struck down, Illinois decided to use it anyway on principal (as stated at the bottom) and that’s why the protest was made and followed through on. Even if Penn State hadn’t protested the result it could have been challenged by any other coach in the conference. I still don’t necessarily agree with it but now I fully understand it and can respect the decision made by the Big 10. The statement at the very bottom from April 2 alluded to the protest but I originally read it to mean the lineup was protested after the fact when in reality it was protested during the challenge process days before the match was played.
If I really thought that Penn State would have swept 1 and 2 with Gosea at 1 and Hiltzik at 2 then I wouldn’t have thought twice about what the Big 10 decided. However anyone that followed Illinois last year knew that the Illini’s #2, Farris Gosea, was tearing it up and would have won regardless of where he was put in the lineup. Gosea was 12-3 in dual match play coming into the Penn State match while his opponent Russell Bader was 15-2. Gosea would drop a whole 2 games to Bader and would finish the regular season on a 12-match winning streak. Now if Gosea had won the match 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 then someone could have come to the conclusion that had he played at #1 the result wouldn’t have been the same but it wasn’t a close match at all – I mean 6-1, 6-1 – come on. Despite all of that the Big 10 felt that Penn State’s protest was valid and awarded the win to the Nittany Lions.
You hear about teams filing protests all the time but this is one of the few occasions that I can think of where the result of a match was altered.
A couple of other instances mentioned by Colette Lewis and Texas College Tennis were from 2006 when Northwestern had a loss to Wisconsin overturned and in 2010 the Syracuse women had a win overturned into a loss against Eastern Michigan.
It’s interesting to re-read the post-match quotes in the proper context – gives you a little bit of a chuckle – “wish you had a second chance” – well coach the Big 10 gave you your second chance. I wonder if Brad still thinks Coach Zinn is doing a great job or if his opinion changed after the ruling.
These two teams are set to meet again this coming Friday in Champaign and I don’t think Illinois is going to hold anything back – anything other than a 7-0 score would be very surprising.
Illinois recap
“Our guys fought hard at Penn State today,” continued Dancer. “Coach Zinn is doing a great job with his team and it was a difficult match.”
Penn State recap
“This was one of those matches in the Big Ten that you wish you had a second chance at, there were just so many ebbs and flows to this match,” said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. “I really thought we were going to win that last match. Being up a set, I thought the momentum would take us through it. Credit to the Illinois guy, he fought hard, he came back and won a really good match. It’s hard to have a freshman in that situation like we did, but that’s why he came here to be in big situations.”
“I thought today, doubles was going to be a key point and it was,” said Zinn. “It was the first doubles match we’ve lost in a long time. It was our first time playing outside since spring break. It wasn’t the greatest tennis outside before the rain came, but I felt that we adjusted pretty well. We started to make a comeback in singles outside and that translated when we came indoors.”
“Great effort by our team today, inching back to a possible upset against No. 9 Illinois,” said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. “Tied at 3-3, Marc almost came back after splitting the first two sets, but both players started getting tired and Illinois closed it out. We showed again today that we can really compete in the Big Ten this year.”
#10 Illinois 4, #23 Penn State 3
Mar 28, 2014 at University Park, Pa.
Singles competition
1. #50 Leonard Stakhovsky (PSU) def. #9 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-2, 6-2
2. #23 Farris Gosea (ILL) def. Russell Bader (PSU) 6-1, 6-1
3. #42 Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. Alex Fennell (PSU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
4. Matt Barry (PSU) def. Ross Guignon (ILL) 6-3, 6-2
5. Roman Trkulja (PSU) def. Blake Bazarnik (ILL) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. Julian Childers (ILL) def. Marc ColladoCastells (PSU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #3 Ross Guignon/Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. #28 Russell Bader/Leonard Stakhovsky (PSU) 8-7 (7-3)
2. #54 Michael Reilly/Chris Young (PSU) vs. Jared Hiltzik/Farris Gosea (ILL) 4-5, unfinished
3. Blake Bazarnik/Alex Jesse (ILL) def. David Kohan/ChristianLutschaunig (PSU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Illinois 14-5, 4-0; National ranking #10
Penn State 15-3, 2-2; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,2,4,3,5,6)
45 Minute Rain Delay
Match started outdoors at Sarni Tennis Center
T-5:52 A-151
#23 Penn State 4, #10 Illinois 3 (Modified)
Mar 28, 2014 at University Park, Pa. (Indoor Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #50 Leonard Stakhovsky (PSU) def. #9 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-2, 6-2
2. #23 Farris Gosea (ILL) def. Russell Bader (PSU) 6-1, 6-1
3. #42 Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. Alex Fennell (PSU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
4. Matt Barry (PSU) def. Ross Guignon (ILL) 6-3, 6-2
5. Roman Trkulja (PSU) def. Blake Bazarnik (ILL) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. Julian Childers (ILL) def. Marc ColladoCastells (PSU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #3 Ross Guignon/Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. #28 Russell Bader/Leonard Stakhovsky (PSU) 8-7 (7-3)
2. #54 Michael Reilly/Chris Young (PSU) vs. Jared Hiltzik/Farris Gosea (ILL) 4-5, unfinished
3. Blake Bazarnik/Alex Jesse (ILL) def. David Kohan/ChristianLutschaunig (PSU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Illinois 13-6, 3-1; National ranking #10
Penn State 16-2, 3-2; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,2,4,3,5,6)
45 Minute Rain Delay; Match started outdoors at Sarni Tennis Center
Penn State protested Illinois’ lineup. The Big Ten overturned the match
The point at No. 2 singles was awarded to Penn State.
T-5:52 A-151
April 2, 2014
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference overturned the result of the March 28 men’s tennis match between Illinois and Penn State. The action was taken by the conference after a lineup protest filed by Penn State regarding the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions was upheld by the conference protest committee. As a result of the committee’s decision, the No. 2 singles point is awarded to Penn State to result in a 4-3 match victory for the Nittany Lions. While the team result was changed, all individual match results will be maintained.
Earlier in the week, Illinois submitted a lineup with Jared Hiltzik, ranked ninth in the nation, in the No. 1 singles position. The submitted lineup was protested by the opposing coaches last weekend. Illinois competed with Hiltzik, who was returning after missing nearly six weeks of action with an injury, at No. 1 singles and Farris Gosea at No. 2 singles Friday at Penn State. Penn State then filed the lineup protest that was eventually upheld by the conference.
“I disagree with the current Big Ten policy on the setting of lineups,” Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. “We knew the ramifications of what could happen when we made the decision on our lineup last Friday. I’m disappointed in the situation, but, out of principle, we felt we needed to make a stand on what we believe is right. We adhered strictly to the guidelines set forth by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, but conference rules supersede ITA rules. We’re disappointed with the situation and outcome, but, we’ll accept it and move forward. This may allow us to begin the conversation to revise the system in the future.”
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