Sept. 19, 2001
The Illinois women's tennis team will open its season Friday, Sept. 21, at the William and Mary Invitational in Williamsburg, Va. The tournament, which runs through Sunday, is like all fall collegiate competitionsin that it is strictly individual. No team scores will be kept. The field includes players from 14 schools around the country: Arizona, Boston College, Illinois, Marshall, Maryland, Old Dominion, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Richmond, Temple, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and William & Mary.
The Orange and Blue has been depleted by injuries, so only four UI players will take part in the tournament. Sophomore Jennifer McGaffigan, ranked No. 70 nationally in the pre-season ITA poll, leads the way for the Illini. She will be joined by classmate Tiffany Eklov and a pair of freshmen, making their collegiate debuts: Kate Boomershine of Glenwood, Md., and Leila Cehajic, a native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Junior Eldina Fazlic underwent shoulder surgery a month ago and will be redshirted this season. Michelle Webb, another junior, had surgery on her left wrist earlier this month, and is not expected to compete until later on this fall. And sophomore Eva Choe is out this week due to a foot injury.
"Even though we have been banged up, practices have been a lot of fun," said Head Coach Sujay Lama. "We have been working on our transition game and also on being aggressive and having fun."
About his two newcomers Lama said, "Kate and Leila are coming along nicely. They are both very mature and have good work ethics. We are extremely pleased with their progress so far, and if they continue to progress like this, they can go a long way."
Lama believes that when his team gets healthy that it has a chance to improve upon last season's best-ever performance. "Obviously we want to get better, and if you look at the last three years, we have continued to make steps towards the Big Ten championship as well as the NCAA round of 16. We want to improve everyone and have a lot of fun in the process. If we have fun and stay healthy, then we will be able to make things happen and have a better chance of achieving our goals."
