Feb. 14, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Rowe earns his first career weekly honor after helping the Illini to back-to-back wins over ranked opponents. Ranked 11th in the nation in singles, the junior is currently on a seven-match win streak, not having dropped a match since beginning the dual-match season.

Against No. 20 Texas A&M, defending NCAA doubles champions Rowe and Kevin Anderson made their dual-match debut. The pair did not need long to show championship form in their 8-4 victory over Bryan Wooten and Brett Joelson of Texas A&M. In his No. 2 singles match, Rowe easily handled the Aggies' Clay Donato with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph to move the Illini to within one point of clinching the team victory. Against No. 7 Florida on Tuesday, Rowe fought off the Gators' 16th-ranked Greg Oullette in a momentous first-set tiebreaker (7-2) before closing out the match with a strong 6-3 win in the second set.

Overall, he is 13-4 on the season and 7-3 against nationally-ranked opponents. His performance for the week improves his No. 2 singles mark to 5-0 on the season, while also going 2-0 in the No. 3 slot. He is the second Illini to be honored this season after Anderson claimed the award on Jan. 24.