CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Feb. 13, 2016)— The No. 13 USF men's tennis team suffered a close 4-3 loss to No. 12 Illinois Saturday afternoon at the ITA National Indoor Championships.

The Bulls took the doubles point for the second straight match at the championships, winning on courts one and three. Roberto Cid and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz raced out to a decisive 6-2 win at the No. 3 spot, before No. 26 Dominic Cotrone and Justin Roberts clinched the point with a 6-4 win on court one.

The Illini tied the match at one-all as Dominic Cotrone fell, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 2 spot to Jared Hiltzik. Peter Bertran used a dominating match at the No. 5 spot to put USF back on top, 2-1, with his 6-3, 6-0 victory.

A hard fought battle by Sasha Gozun came up just short as the junior faltered at the No. 3 spot. Gozun played 12 games in his first set and 10 in the second, falling 7-5, 6-4.

The back-and-forth match continued as Gonzalez-Muniz put the Bulls in front, 3-2. After winning a first-set tiebreaker, the senior took the second set, 6-3, to secure the win.

Illinois would take the final two points as Cid dropped his first match of the year in straight sets. Roberts went all the way to a third set, but couldn't overcome the deficit to pull out a victory.

USF (3-3) returns to action Friday, Feb. 19, at 2:00 p.m. at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.