Senior Ryan Rowe

May 14, 2008

SKILLMAN, NJ. - Illinois senior Ryan Rowe was named the Midwest Region Farnsworth/ITA Senior Player of the Year the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Wednesday. The Moline, Ill. native was also named the Midwest Region nominee for the ITA/John Van Nostrand Memorial Award. Van Nostrand Award nominees are not regional award winners, but rather nominees put forth by their respective regional committees for the national award consideration. The John Van Nostrand Memorial Award is given to an outstanding senior men's player who plans to pursue a professional career after college.

The eight regional winners, for each respective award are nominees for each national award. All national award winners will be announced on May 20 in Tulsa, Okla.

Rowe, a two-time All-American and two-time unanimous All-Big Ten selection, is currently nationally-ranked No. 21 in singles and No. 11 in doubles with partner Billy Heiser. He is currently 28-14 on the year, marking his third straight 20-win season. In 2006, Rowe teamed with partner Kevin Anderson to become only the third Illini doubles tandem to win the NCAA doubles title. The duo advanced to their second straight NCAA doubles final to become the first doubles tandem to make back-to-back appearances with the same partner in 40 years. The nationally-ranked No. 8 Illini tandem claimed runner-up accolades after falling in a tight three-setter to the No. 6 duo from Middle Tennessee.

Rowe and the No. 15 Illini will face off against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2008 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on Friday, May 16 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. First serve is set for 3 p.m. CT and live scoring will be available at the Tulsa Hurricane website (tulsahurricane.com).