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Illinois
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Wilson Earns Co-Big Ten Player Of The Week
 
Brian Wilson earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week for his performance against No. 25 Pepperdine
 
Senior Brian Wilson earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week for his efforts against No. 25 Pepperdine, on Jan. 31.
 
 

Feb. 8, 2004

University of Illinois senior Brian Wilson added to his many collegiate tennis achievements last week when he was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week with Minnesota's Aleksey Zharinov. Wilson received the honor for his efforts on January 31 against No. 25 Pepperdine. Wilson beat No. 31 Pedro Rico in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. He also teamed with fellow Illini Phil Stolt to defeat the No. 7 duo of Calle Hansen and Rico, 8-3. Wilson also received Big Ten Player of the Week last season during the week of April 17.

"I think he is certainly deserving of this award," said Head Coach Craig Tiley. "He was one of the main reasons we were able to pull of the win (USTA/ITA title) this weekend. His results this weekend were some of the best we have had at No. 1."

At the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships this past weekend, which saw the Illini become back-to-back champions of the event, Wilson went undefeated (3-0) to improve his record to 4-1 on the season. His highlight win came in the title match, when he beat No. 12 Tobias Clemens from UCLA, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the title for the Illini.

The duo of Wilson and Stolt have been challenged in the early season having already faced four top-ten doubles teams (No. 1, No. 2, No. 7, No. 10) in only six matches. In those matches the pair has two wins and one unfinished match. The duo has a record of 4-1.