Feb. 28, 2001
Illinois battled during singles competition but lost in straight-sets at No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, and No. 5. At No.6, freshman Eva Choe lost a heart breaker, winning the first set 7-5, but losing the second set 6-4 and a tiebreaker, 13-11, after having led, 9-4 in that tiebreaker. At No.1, freshman Jennifer McGaffigan, ranked 80th in the nation, was defeated by the No.2 player in the country, Ansley Cargill, 6-3, 6-1. Her classmate, Tiffany Eklov, saw her unbeaten streak of six matches ended by No.73 Megan Miller, 6-1, 6-1. In doubles, the Illini were swept, 8-3 at No.1, 8-1 at No.2 and 8-4 at No.3.
"Duke is a great team with a lot of tradition. " said Head Coach Sujay Lama. "Give them credit, they took it to us in doubles, but I thought we came back and played better in singles.
"I was not happy with the way we showed up today," continued Lama. "It is good to have respect, but we showed too much respect today. It is time to start believing that we belong with the best. I scheduled Duke at home to show that we are not that far away. It is a mental thing--we have to start believing to get to Duke's level.
Illinois next match is Saturday, March 3 against Northwestern at the Atkins Tennis Center, it is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m.
"Coming up against Northwestern, you can throw away the rankings because it is always a good match. We match up well and bring out the best in each other when we play. In order to win, we will have to come out and compete better than we did today because they are a strong, well coached team."
Today's Illinois Results
SINGLES
1. No.2 Ansley Cargill (DUKE) def. No.80 Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) 6-3, 6-1
2. No.73 Megan Miller (DUKE) def. Tiffany Eklov (ILL) 6-1, 6-1
3. No.11 Kathy Sell (DUKE) def. Eldina Fazlic (ILL) 6-1, 6-3
4. Katie Granson (DUKE) def. Simone Kung (ILL) 6-3, 6-3
5. Hillary Adams (DUKE) def. Carla Rosenberg (ILL) 6-3, 6-2
6. Prim Siripipat (DUKE) def. Eva Choe (ILL) 5-7, 6-4, (13-11)
DOUBLES
1. No. 30 Kathy Sell/Ansley Cargill (DUKE) def. Carla Rosenberg/Simone Kung (ILL) 8-3
2. No.3 Amanda Johnson/Megan Miller (DUKE) def. Eldina Fazlic/Michelle Webb (ILL) 8-1
3. Katie Granson/Hillary Adams (DUKE) def. Jennifer McGaffigan/Eva Choe (ILL) 8-4
