ROSEMONT, Ill. – Illinois senior Louise Kwong was named Big Ten Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week by the conference office on Tuesday. Kwong won all five of the matches she finished last weekend, highlighted by the No. 1 singles match that clinched the 5-2 Illini victory over No. 33 Maryland.

In the match against Rutgers, Kwong partnered with teammate Ines Vias in doubles to win the match at the No. 1 spot, defeating Ksenija Tihomirova and Chloe Lee of Rutgers, 6-2, clinching the doubles point for Illinois. In singles, Kwong would defeated Mingxiu Du at the No. 1 position, 6-2, 6-1, helping Illinois to a 6-1 win over Rutgers.

Kwong's best performance came against Maryland, starting with the doubles point. In the No. 1 doubles match against Alexandra Stanova and Kristina Hovsepyan, Kwong and Vias earned a 6-2 win, giving Illinois some early momentum. Playing against Stanova at the No. 1 position in singles, the Illini senior lost the first set, 6-1, but then won the second set, 7-6 (7-5), after falling behind, 5-4, in the tiebreaker. Kwong went on to win the match with a 6-3 in the third set, clinching the victory for Illinois.

Against Southern Illinois, Kwong and Vias defeated Vitoria Beiroa and Meagan Monaghan at No. 1 doubles, 6-3.

The conference honor is the second for Kwong this season, the third of her career, and the third for an Illini for the 2016-17 season. Teammate Alexis Casati received the honor last week, and Kwong received the honor on March 14.

NEXT UP

Next weekend Illinois will hit the road to face Iowa on Friday, March 31 and Nebraska on Sunday, April 2.