University of Illinois
Indiana Invitational
Doubles Play Wraps Up Illini Showing at Hoosier Classic
October 8, 2007 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 8, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Illinois women's tennis team concluded action at the Hoosier Classic on the campus of Indiana University with doubles action on Sunday, Oct. 7. Overall, the Illini went 8-8 in doubles play, experimenting with various doubles lineups that head coach Michelle Dasso says will pay dividends for the Orange and Blue down the road.
"The last day of the Hoosier Classic was a successful one in the sense that it helped us solidify some doubles teams," Dasso said. "We've been trying different pairs this fall and found a couple tandems that complement each other well. Bottom line, every individual on the team could be called upon at any moment to step in and compete, so all10 girls have to be prepared to play each and every day."
Heading the doubles victories for the weekend was the pair of sophomore Kristina Minor and freshman Candy Graetz, who finished 3-1 at the Classic.
"The last two days of competition also marked the return of Kristina Minor, who missed our first fall tournament due to injury," Dasso said. "She was cleared to play doubles this tournament, so she took full advantage. Kristina has been practicing with a certain hunger this year. I think she is out to prove something, and I have a feeling her sophomore year is going to be a special one."
Minor and Graetz opened doubles play taking down Yuliana Svistun and Mymee Tokuda of Kansas, 8-5, before battling to the very last point with Kelcie Klockenga and Jessica Young of Iowa, 9-8(2). Continuing to mesh as a doubles tandem, the Illini youngsters proceeded to upend Yuka Kobayashi and Ashley Moccia of Western Michigan, 8-3, before suffering their first setback of the weekend against Katerina Kudlackova and Natasha Vieira of Kansas State, 8-2.
Illinois' other emerging doubles tandems included the freshman pair of Lindsay McCarthy and Marisa Lambropoulos and sophomore Shivani Davé and freshman Christine Stromberg, with both teams going 2-1.
McCarthy/Lambropoulos started a little rocky with a loss to Western Michigan's Emily Dudzik and Yumi Matsuto in the opening round, 8-4, but would use the defeat as a springboard to go 2-0 the rest of the way. The wins included downing Kunigunda Dorn and Maria Martinez of Kansas, 8-4, and Fundzai Masiyazi and Sarah Meghoufel of Indiana State, 8-5.
For Davé and Stromberg, they outlasted Stephanie Heller and Myriam Sopel of Indiana, 9-7, before suffering a setback against Masiyazi and Meghoufel, 8-1. Returning to form, the Illini tandem ended the weekend on a high note with an 8-4 victory over the mixed pair of Adrienne Elsberry of Georgia and Katie Kilborn of Vanderbilt.
Capping off the weekend results, the teams of Davé /Lambropoulos, McCarthy and senior Momei Qu and senior Alejandra Meza Cuadra and Stromberg all went 0-1, while the pairing of Meza Cuadra/Qu tallied an 0-3 mark.
The Illini will take this weekend off before heading to the ITA Midwest Regional Championships being hosted by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. Last season, then-freshman Megan Fudge made her debut on the regional stage, as she advanced into the semifinals of the competition, going 7-1 overall, after starting out in the qualifying bracket. This year's event is schedule to run Oct. 18-23 at the Varsity Tennis Center with brackets set to be release early next week.
