From the match’s very inception, the action was close. Too close for the Illini’s comfort.

Though the Orange and Blue took the doubles point with two 8-6 wins, Crimson senior Chris Chiou evened the dual match score to 1-1.

And then it was 2-2.

Then 3-3.

And finally, in the deciding match, Harvard co-captain Cliff Nguyen forced a third set. All eyes were on the senior, the very player who had clinched that contest against Brown a month before.

The Crimson sat a single set away from knocking off the top seed, handing Illinois its first loss in two calendar years and storming the Elite Eight, a round reached only once in Harvard history.

But Nguyen lost the set, and with it, a shot at Harvard history. And just like that, the careers of five Harvard seniors—Lingman, Nguyen, Riddell, Chiou and George Turner—were lost as well.

But the team had turned heads along the way.

“I think we really let the country know and the tennis community know that Harvard is one of the best teams in the country,” Chiou said afterward. “We came very close to beating an undefeated team.”

Incredibly close.

“It was just unbelievable,” Fish said, somewhat at a loss for words. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reaches at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.