April 1, 2000

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Illinois women's tennis team knocked off the defending Big Ten Champion Northwestern Wildcats 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.

Improving to 5-0 in the Big Ten, freshman Natascha Loebnitz clinched the Illini win with her 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Lia Jackson at No. 4 singles. After taking two out of three matches to earn the doubles point, Loebnitz and her cohorts at the bottom of singles lineup helped lead the Illini in knocking off the No. 13 Wildcats.

"Our kids fought hard today, and they played with a lot of fire," Head coach Sujay Lama said. "Getting the doubles point was huge because it gave us the momentum going into singles. It was a great tennis match against a great Northwestern team."

Illinois got its first point of the day from the play of its Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. Junior Simone Kung and freshman Michelle Webb downed Jackson and Jennifer Lutgert 8-3 at No. 2. The team of junior Carla Rosenberg and senior Natalia Manasova collected the other Illini win, going 8-4 over Shannon Duffy and Leigh Weinraub at No. 3. Loebnitz and sophomore Brooke Ferney lost 8-1 to Katherine Nasser and Colleen Cheng at No. 1.

With the top three singles spots going to Northwestern, the bottom half of the Illini responded with wins. In addition to Loebnitz's clincher, Rosenberg went 6-0, 6-0 against Lutgert at No. 5 and Manasova defeated Jessica Strickland 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6. Playing at No. 3, Ferney lost a tough three-set test to Cheng, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4. Kung fell 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 to Duffy and freshman Eldina Fazlic lost to Nasser 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1.

"This win gives us a lot of confidence, and it is a tremendous step for our program to beat the defending conference champions," Lama said. "Our goal now is to stay humble and keep working hard."

Illinois, now 8-9 on the year, returns to action next week, visiting Penn State April 8 and Ohio State April 9.

Illinois 4, Northwestern 3

1. Eldina Fazlic lost to Katherina Nasser 6-3, 6-2
2. Simone Kung lost to Shannon Duffy 6-2, 6-2
3. Brooke Ferney def. Coleen Chen 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
4. Natascha Loebnitz def. Lia Jackson 6-2, 5-7, 2-6 **
5. Carla Rosenberg def. Jennifer Lutgert 6-0, 6-0
6. Natalia Manasova def. Jessica Strickland 6-1, 6-0

1. Ferney/Loebnitz lost to Nasser/Cheng 8-1
2. Kung/Webb def. Jackson/Lutgert 8-3
3. Rosenberg/Manasova def. Duffy/Leigh Weinraub 8-4

** clinching win