The Fighting Illini of Illinois painted Athens, Georgia, orange and blue while claiming the triple crown of college tennis during the Division I Men's Tennis Championships May 17-26 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Illini's sweep of the team title and the individual singles and doubles events marked the 18th time a team has captured all three crowns since NCAA team competition was established in 1946.

Illinois won the team competition over a tough Vanderbilt squad, 4-3, capping off a perfect 32-0 season. In doubles play, the Illini's lone match win came at the No. 2 spot with the duo of Brian Wilson and Rajeev Ram. Vanderbilt's Bobby Reynolds and Scott Brown won at No. 1 doubles, and Zach Dailey and Lewis Smith won at No. 3.

The deciding singles match came at the No. 6 position. Sophomore Chris Martin, who earlier in the season fought for a place in the starting lineup, proved an unlikely hero in winning a three-set decision.

The Illinois parade of champions continued in the singles tournament, as junior Amer Delic defeated No. 2-seeded and second-ranked Benedikt Dorsch of Baylor, 6-4, 6-3, to become Illinois' first singles champion. Delic and Dorsch had met twice in the fall, splitting the matches.

"I knew I had to be on the attack all of the time; my main goal was to stay aggressive, and it paid off," Delic said. "Dorsch would have preferred longer rallies -- he is an aggressive baseliner, but his backhand wasn't working as well today as it usually does. So I was able to exploit that."

The doubles title came down to a battle between San Diego State's Oliver Maiberger and Ryan Redondo and Illinois' junior-freshman duo of Wilson and Ram. The Illini pair survived a break point in game 7, then won the last four games to capture the first set. Maiberger and Redondo won a close second set, but the Illini serving kicked in during a 6-1 deciding set three.

Wilson and Ram were the first pair in NCAA doubles history to beat the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds on the way to the title. They also became the eighth unseeded pair since 1977 to claim the crown.

"Our coaches have worked for several years, long and hard, for this moment," Ram said. "And really, we're just part of the result. It didn't happen overnight. A lot of effort was made by the coaches and the players over the past few years at Illinois for this to happen."

Team results

Round of 16

Florida 4, Texas 3; UCLA 4, Oklahoma St. 0; Baylor 4, Alabama 1; Vanderbilt 4, Texas A&M 1; Illinois 4, Washington 2; Duke 3, Mississippi 4; California 4, Ohio St. 0; Stanford 4, Tulane 0.

Quarterfinals

Florida 1, UCLA 4; Vanderbilt 4, Baylor 0; Illinois 4, Mississippi 1; Stanford 4, California 0.

Semifinals

Vanderbilt 4, UCLA, 3; Illinois 4, Stanford 2

Championship

Illinois 4, Vanderbilt 3

Doubles: No. 1 -- Bobby Reynolds-Scott Brown, Vanderbilt, def. Amer Delic-Michael Calkins, Illinois, 8-5; No. 2 -- Brian Wilson-Rajeev Ram, Illinois, def. Chad Harris-Matt Lockin, Virginia, 8-2; No. 3 -- Zach Dailey-Lewis Smith, Vanderbilt, def. Phil Stolt-Chris Martin, Illinois, 8-5.

Singles: No. 1 -- Reynolds, Vanderbilt, def. Delic, Illinois, 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-1; No. 2 -- Harris, Vanderbilt, def. Wilson, Illinois, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5; No. 3 -- Ram, Illinois, def. Lockin, Vanderbilt, 6-3, 6-4; No. 4 -- Stolt, Illinois, def. Brown, Vanderbilt, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; No. 5 -- Calkins, Illinois, def. Dailey, Vanderbilt, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1; No. 6 -- Martin, Illinois, def. Smith, Vanderbilt, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Individual results

Singles

First round: Benjamin Becker, Baylor, def. Paul Ciorascu, Mississippi, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4; Rameez Junaid, Auburn, def. Ryan Livesay, Tulsa, 7-6 (5), 6-3; Daniel Klemetz, def. Ryan Newport, Texas A&M, 6-3, 6-3; Tristan Meniane, North Carolina, def. David Lingman, Harvard, 7-6 (3), 6-2; Todd Widom, Miami, def. Jonathan Chu, Harvard, 6-2, 7-5; Seth Rose, South Carolina, def. Richard Barker, Rice, 6-2, 6-4; Michael Kogan, Tulane, def. Vincent Ng, Ohio St., 7-5, 6-2; William Barker, Rice, def. Phillip King, Duke, 6-2, 6-4; Jesse Witten, Kentucky, def. Jeremy Wurtzman, Ohio St., 6-3, 7-6 (4); Lester Cook, Texas A&M, def. Dustin Taylor, Tulsa, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3; Alejandro Tejerina, Tulsa, def. Matt Cloer, Florida St., 6-4, 6-2; Matt Hanlin, Washington, def. Andreas Lauland, Virginia Tech, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (1); Oscar Chow, Columbia, def. Chris Lam, UCLA, 6-3, 6-2; Marcin Matkowski, UCLA, def. Robert Searle, Rice, 6-2, 6-3; Romain Ambert, Miss. St., def. Conor Niland, California, 7-5, 6-3; Robert Kowalczyk, California, def. Nick Monroe, North Carolina, 7-5, 6-4; David Martin Stanford, def. David Loewenthal, Wake Forest, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; K.C. Corkery, Stanford, def. Doug Stewart, 6-3, 6-4; Alex Vlaski, Washington, def. Michael Yani, Duke, 7-6 (6), 6-4; Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor, def. Divan Coetzee, New Mexico, 6-3, 6-2; Janne Holmia, Florida, def. Manuel Kost, Oregon, 6-4, 6-3; Calle Hansen, Pepperdine, def. Alex Hartman, Mississippi, 6-3, 6-4; Mark van Elden, Oklahoma St., def. Shannon Buck, Air Force, 7-5, 6-0; Hamid Mirzadeh, Florida, def. Prakash Amritraj, Southern California, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2; Oliver Maiberger, San Diego St., def. Aleksey Zharinov, Minnesota, 6-2, 6-3; Marcus Berntson, Boise St., def. Matias Marin, Baylor, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5; Bo Hodge, Georgia, def. Jean Simon, Texas, 6-4, 6-1; Nicolas Boeker, Georgia, def. Tobias Clemens, UCLA, 7-5, 6-4; Bobby Reynolds, Vanderbilt, def. Phil Stolt, Illinois, 7-5, 6-2; Brian Wilson, Illinois, def. Simon Rea, Tennessee, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Amer Delic, Illinois, def. Catalin Gard, Mississippi, 7-6 (5), 6-4; Rajeev Ram, Illinois, def. Chad Harris, Vanderbilt, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.

Second round: Maiberger, San Diego St. def. Martin, Stanford, 6-1, 6-3; Junaid, Auburn def. Ambert, Miss St., 6-7, 6-2, 7-5; Mirzadeh, Florida, def. Meniane, North Carolina 6-3, 6-2; Kogan, Tulane, def. Kowalczyk, California, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Barker, Rice, def. Hansen, Pepperdine, 6-4, 6-2; Dorsch, Baylor, def. Cook, Texas A&M, 7-5, 6-2; Reynolds, Vanderbilt, def. Becker, Baylor, 7-5, 6-2; Hodge, Georgia, def. Hanlin, Washington, 6-0, 6-4; Chow, Columbia, def. Wilson, Illinois, 6-2, 6-3; Delic, Illinois, def. Bernston, Boise St., 6-1, 7-5; Vlaski, Washington, def. Matkowski, UCLA, 6-1, 6-3; Klemetz, Middle Tenn., def. Tejerina, Tulsa, 6-3, 6-0; Widom, Miami, def. Ram, Illinois, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Rose, South Carolina, def. Holmia, Florida (retired), 6-0, 2-0; Corkery, Stanford, def. Witten, Kentucky, 6-1, 6-0; Boeker, Georgia, def. van Elden, Oklahoma St., 6-1, 6-4.

Round of 16: Vlaski, Washington, def. Reynolds, Vanderbilt, 7-5, 7-6; Junaid, Auburn, def. Maiberger, San Diego St., 3-6, 6-1, 7-6; Delic, Illinois, def. Klemetz, Middle Tenn., 6-2, 6-4; Mirzadeh, Florida, def. Boeker, Georgia, 6-1, 6-4; Widom, Miami, def. Rose, South Carolina, 6-2, 6-4; Hodge, Georgia, def. Kogan, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5; Chow, Columbia, def. Barker, Rice, 6-2, 7-6; Dorsch (2), Baylor, def. Corkery, Stanford, 6-4, 7-6.

Quarterfinals: Dorsch, Baylor, def. Chow, Columbia, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5; Delic, Illinois, def. Mirzadeh, Florida, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6; Widom, Miami, def. Hodge, Georgia, 6-3, 7-5; Vlaski, Washington, def. Junaid, Auburn, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.

Semifinals: Delic, Illinois, def. Vlaski, Washington, 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-2; Dorsch, Baylor, def. Widom, Miami, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(9).

Championship: Delic, Illinois, def. Dorsch, Baylor, 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles

First round: Richard Barker-William Barker, Rice, def. Bryan Fisher-Jason Hazley, Louisiana St., 6-4, 6-2; Trystan Meniane-Nicholas Monroe, North Carolina ,def. Scott Brown-Chad Harris, Vanderbilt, 7-5, 7-6(4); Michael Kogan-Victor Romero, Tulane, def. Prakash Amritraj-Daniel Langre, Southern California, 7-6(4), 7-5; Marcin Matkowski-Rodrigo Grilli, UCLA, def. Andrew Golub-Colin Purcell, Miami, 6-2, 6-2; Phillip King-Michael Yani, Duke, def. David Lingman-Mark Riddell, Harvard, 7-6(5), 6-4; Rajeev Ram-Brian Wilson, Illinois, def. Olvier Charroin-Chris Stewart, Arizona St., 7-5, 6-2; Andrew Colombo-Rameez Junaid, Auburn, def. Steve Berke-Robert Kowalczyk, California, 6-3, 6-0; Ryan Livesay-Dustin Taylor, Tulsa, def. Chris McDonald-Hamid Mirzadeh, Florida, 7-5, 6-4; Michael Calkins-Amer Delic, Illinois, def. Tommy Garrison-Chris Mitchell, Oklahoma, 7-6(6), 6-4; Diego Acuna-Calle Hansen, Pepperdine, def. Jermaine Jenkins-Nathan Thompson, Clemson, 6-4, 6-4; Nicolas Boeker-Bo Hodge, Georgia, def. Zoltan Czanadi-Izak Van der Merwe, Old Dominion, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5; Scott Lipsky-David Martin, Stanford, def. Brent Salazar-Ryan Stotland, New Mexico, 7-6(5), 6-4; Benedikt Dorsch-Reiner Neurohr, Baylor, def. Alex Hartman-Claes Lindholm, Mississippi, 6-2, 6-3; Lester Cook-Ante Matijevic, Texas A&M, def. Michael Duquette-Doug Stewart, Virginia, 6-2, 6-1; Jamie Cerratani-Chris Drake, Brown, def. Bobby Reynolds-Lewis Smith, Vanderbilt, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Oliver Maiberger-Ryan Redondo, San Diego St., def. Hector Alamda-Sergui Modoc, Fresno St., 6-3, 6-4.

Round of 16: Barker-Barker, Rice, def. Meniane-Monroe, North Carolina, 6-2, 6-3; Kogan-Romero, Tulane, def. Matkowski-Grilli, UCLA, 6-4, 6-4; Ram-Wilson, Illinois, def. King-Yani, Duke, 6-3, 6-4; Livesay-Taylor, Tulsa, def. Colombo-Junaid, Auburn, 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3; Acuna-Hansen, Pepperdine, def. Calkins-Delic, Illinois, 7-6(2), 6-4; Lipsky-Martin, Stanford, def. Boeker-Hodge, Georgia, 6-2, 6-3; Dorsch-Neurohr, Baylor, def. Cook-Matijevic, Texas A&M, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5); Maiberger-Redondo, San Diego St., def. Cerratani-Drake, Brown, 6-3, 6-3.

Quarterfinals: Barker-Barker, Rice, def. Kogan-Romero, Tulane, 6-3, 6-4; Ram-Wilson, Illinois, def. Livesay-Taylor, Tulsa, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Lipsky-Martin, Stanford, def. Acuna-Hansen, Pepperdine, 6-1, 6-7, 6-1; Maiberger-Redondo, San Diego St., def. Dorsch-Neurohr, Baylor, 5-7,7-5,6-4.

Semifinals: Ram-Wilson, Illinois, def. Barker-Barker, Rice, 7-6(1), 7-5; Maiberger-Redondo, San Diego St., def. Lipsky-Martin, Stanford, 6-4, 6-4.

Championship: Ram-Wilson, Illinois, def. Maiberger-Redondo, San Diego St., 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.