Michigan men’s tennis junior George Navas belted out a loud scream and threw his racket to the ground. He had just finished his match against Illinois's Ruan Roelofse on Saturday at the Varsity Tennis Center.

A few seconds later, the Tampa, Fla., native was bombarded by a handful of his teammates as he clinched the 48th-ranked Wolverines' 4-3 victory over the Fighting Illini and the program's second since 1997.

“It definitely ranks in the top five (in my career)," Navas said. “We’re starting to play a little bit better now, and we came up with a win that we really needed.”

With his family in the stands, Navas won the Wolverines' final point with a three-set victory, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

“It’s probably one of our clutchest wins ever,” junior Mike Sroczynski said. “At this point we’re ranked 48th and pretty much borderline for the (NCAA) Tournament. A win like this we definitely needed to push us into contention for making the Tournament.”

After grinding through the mid-year lull, the Wolverines didn’t give up early. Instead, they “worked even harder and listened better,” according to Michigan coach Bruce Berque.

A good showing in next week's Big Ten Tournament could push the Wolverines (6-4 Big Ten, 12-13 overall) into the NCAA Tournament.

“The Big Ten Tournament is coming up, so maybe we can sneak up on a team or two there,” Navas said.

And Saturday, with the Wolverines ahead in the match 3-2, Navas was finally due for a timely performance against Illinois (8-2, 19-7).

On March 21 and 22, Michigan squared off at Minnesota and Iowa. Both matches were knotted at three and Navas squandered the opportunity to win Michigan's fourth and deciding point.

“Sometimes when you’re in that situation, and it has not gone well the previous couple of times, that’s a lot of pressure,” Berque said. “You pretty much recognize it’s up to you, and when it hasn’t gone well in the past, there are some demons in your closet that start knocking at the door inside your head, and it’s tough to battle it ...This is huge for George and his confidence.”

But Saturday made up just half of the weekend’s success for Michigan.

On Sunday, the Wolverines had their Senior Day against No. 53 Indiana. All three seniors — Peter Aarts, Mike DePietro, and Andrew Mazlin — were honored before the Wolverines' 6-1 victory in their last regular-season match.

With the team’s victory against the Hoosiers (5-5, 13-13), Michigan has won six of its last seven matches and is playing its best tennis as it heads down the stretch.

The fourth-seeded Wolverines face No. 5 Northwestern next Friday at 10:00 a.m. as they host the Big Ten Tournament at the Varsity Tennis Center.