URBANA – Illinois' Abe Souza won his match at No. 4 singles, but it was the only singles victory for the 15th-ranked Illini in their 6-1 loss to second-ranked Virginia on Friday night at Atkins Tennis Center.

Souza defeated 16th-ranked Jarmere Jenkins 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.

The Cavaliers' Michael Shabaz, ranked third nationally, defeated the Illini's Dennis Nevolo, ranked 43rd nationally, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.

Nevolo exacted some revenge at No. 1 doubles. Nevolo and partner Johnny Hamui defeated Virginia's Sanam Singh and Shabaz 8-5, but the Cavaliers won the doubles point after taking matches at Nos. 2 and 3.

In wrestling:

Dergo, Bond shine in loss. Second-ranked John Dergo (184 pounds), 10th-ranked Patrick Bond (197) and 14th-ranked Jordan Blanton (174) were victorious, but No. 13 Penn State defeated No. 19 Illinois 24-11 on Friday in the teams' first Big Ten dual of the season.

Dergo claimed his sixth victory against a ranked opponent this season, topping 12th-ranked David Erwin in sudden-victory time. Blanton had a 22-5 technical fall for the Illini (5-4, 0-1) in State College, Pa.

"Other than 133 (pounds) and 141 (pounds), the match went exactly how it was predicted to go," UI coach Jim Heffernan said. "The problem was we were favored to win both of those matches, and we didn't win either of them. That was the difference."

At 133, Daryl Thomas tried to rally after surrendering three back points in the first period. He recorded three takedowns in the third period, but Bryan Pearsall held off the deciding fourth takedown and won 13-12.

At 141, 11th-ranked Ryan Prater had an early takedown against Penn State's Adam Lynch, but Lynch pinned Prater at 3:56 in the second period.

At 174, Blanton recorded an early takedown and rode Penn State's Justin Ortega hard before he escaped. Blanton had another takedown and turned Ortega for three near-fall points before he escaped, making it 8-2 in Blanton's favor after the first period.

In women's tennis:

Illini drop thriller. Chelcie Abajian (No. 3 singles), Breanne Smutko (No. 4 singles) and Marisa Lambropoulos (No. 6 singles) earned victories, but the 33rd-ranked Illini lost 4-3 to 11th-ranked Tennessee on Friday in Knoxville, Tenn.