No. 5 Stanford Cardinal (5-0)
at
No. 10 Illinois (3-1)
Saturday, Feb. 10 • 4:00 p.m. PT
Atkins Tennis Center
Champaign, Ill.
Live Stream • FightingIllini.com
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STANFORD, Calif. – After opening the season 5-0 with all five matches in the Bay Area, Stanford will make its first trip out of the state when it faces No. 10 Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, Saturday at 4 p.m. PT.
Live scoring and video of Saturday's match will be available at FightingIllini.com.
Stanford continued to move up in the latest Oracle/ITA rankings, earning its first top-five ranking in nine seasons. The Cardinal checked in at No. 5 in Wednesday's rankings.
Included in the Cardinal's 5-0 start is three wins over top-25 teams in previously No. 5 USC (6-1), previously No. 6 UCLA (4-3) and previously No. 22 Tulane (4-1). The victory over the Green Wave in Berkeley sealed a berth in next week's ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle.
Saturday marks Stanford's fourth consecutive top-25 opponent.
Senior Tom Fawcett, ranked No. 33 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings, is 11-2 this season with a pair of victories over top-25 opponents in the last week. He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after guiding the Cardinal to wins over the Green Wave, Trojans and Bruins.
Freshman Axel Geller, No. 75 in the latest ITA rankings, is 4-0 in the dual season, playing at the No. 2 spot. Junior Sameer Kumar is also 4-0 in the dual season, playing at the No. 3 spot.
The doubles squad of Fawcett of Geller is ranked No. 32 in the latest ITA rankings. The duo is 4-0 in dual action.
Illinois (3-1) is led by Aleks Vukic (No. 46) and Aron Hiltzik (No. 69). The Illini split their two matches last week, defeating Duke (6-1) and falling to North Carolina (4-3). Illinois also owns wins over Georgia Tech and Oklahoma this season.
Stanford is 7-4 all-time against Illinois. The two teams met last season at Taube Tennis Center, with the Cardinal earning a 4-2 win. William Genesen provided the clincher last season with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 6. Sameer Kumar and David Wilczynski also collected victories in singles action for the Cardinal last year. Vukic and Fawcett squared off at No. 1 in last season's contest on The Farm with the Illini pulling out the 6-3, 6-0 win.
Following Saturday's match, the Cardinal will return briefly before heading to Seattle for the ITA National Indoor Championships Friday through Monday, Feb. 16-19.
