Chambana Sun

Illinois wrapped up its participation at the Hope College RSM Invite in Holland, Michigan, on Saturday with eight singles victories. Freshman Adam Jilly and junior Jeremy Zhang each won all three of their singles matches, while freshman Sasha Colleu recorded two wins and one loss, with his only defeat coming in a three-set match.

Head coach Brad Dancer commented on the team's performance: "We are competing and showing some fight in the Fighting Illini," said head coach Brad Dancer. "Jeremy made big progress in how he's using his serve. Adam and Sasha improved with each doubles match, but it's time to grow out of being a freshman on the doubles court. Most importantly, we are competing. Now, the coaches need to give better tactics and the guys need to execute them."

The Illini started Friday by losing their opening doubles matches but rebounded by winning all three singles contests. Jilly defeated Notre Dame's Giuseppe Cerasuolo 6-3, 6-4; Colleu beat Evan Lee of Notre Dame 6-1, 6-0; and Zhang overcame Michigan's Mert Oral in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 11-9.

Later that day, Jilly and Colleu lost their second doubles match while Zhang secured a win alongside DePaul's Pablo Torres Almeida against Purdue's Nikola Jovic and Mujtaba Ali-Khan.

On Saturday, Illinois continued its strong performance in singles play. Jilly defeated DePaul's Alejandro Gandini 6-4, 6-2; Colleu posted a win over Sebastian Medica of DePaul with scores of 7-6(1), 6-3; and Zhang earned another victory against Purdue’s Nikola Jovic with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-6(3).

After dropping their subsequent doubles matches on Saturday as well, Illinois again found success in singles competition. Jilly won against Michigan's Bjorn Swenson (6-4, 6-2), Zhang remained unbeaten by defeating David Saye from Michigan State (6-3, 6-2), while Colleu finished his weekend with a close three-set loss to Michigan’s Nicholas Steiglehner.

The results highlight consistent individual performances for Illinois at the tournament.