URBANA – Craig Tiley won't soon forget the sting of Saturday's 4-0 loss to Northwestern.

The University of Illinois men's tennis coach doesn't want his young team to forget, either.

   CHAMPAIGN - They''re headed down the road to the national championship, but Oliver Freelove and his Illinois

tennis chums still have a long trip ahead of them.

   "I would like to think, by the time I leave here, we could

have challenged for a national title," Freelove said in that thick British accent

of his. "I think that''s a conceivable goal."

URBANA – As her junior season wound to an ego-bruising close in 1996, Susanne Land clearly had had her fill of losing.

Pretty much had her fill of collegiate tennis, too.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Big Ten champs today. NCAA champs tomorrow?

"People are going to start to recognize Illinois as one of the dominant programs in the country," Illinois men's tennis coach Craig Tiley said Sunday. "Now they know."

The Big Ten singles champion was experiencing some big-time back pain.

Not much fun under any circumstances but especially disconcerting for someone who hadn't been seriously injured before.

   CHAMPAIGN  When Cary Franklin needed a few tennis tips as a tot, all he had to do was walk out his bedroom door and hang a couple rights.

   That''s where Paul Annacone, now known as the coach of the world''s top-ranked men''s player, shacked up as a young, strapped-for-cash traveling pro.

URBANA – With two starters unavailable Saturday, nothing figured to come easy for the University of Illinois women's tennis team.

All of which made the Illini's 4-3 Big Ten Conference victory over Ohio State at Atkins Tennis Center that much more satisfying for their coach.

URBANA – If Jerry Turek's math's right, his name should sit atop the University of Illinois' all-time tennis wins list for, oh, about two years.

"Last year, we had three freshmen with more than 25 wins and right now, all three of them have 20 wins," Turek said. "My first year, I had 28 and my second year I only had 14. They're already ahead of me."