Feb. 20, 2002

The Illinois women's tennis team (5-3) begins the long-awaited Big Ten season Saturday at the Atkins Tennis Center. Coach Sujay Lama's 34th-ranked club opens with No. 75 Michigan State then takes on No. 70 Michigan Sunday. Both matches start at 11 a.m.

Coming off a 5-2 loss at Wake Forest and a 7-0 defeaat Vanderbilt last weekend, one would not think Lama would be optimistic as his team embarks on the conference schedule. But quite the contrary. Lama was very pleased with the way his players competed against the No. 6 and No. 2 teams in the nation.

"We were very intentional about scheduling some very tough teams on the road again this year," said Lama, "and I was very pleased with the way our team competed. We're not there yet, but both Vanderbilt and Wake Forest really had to play well to beat us. Even though the scores don't indicate it, most of the matches were very competitive. Our players were very disappointed that they didn't win, and that's encouraging.

"I feel very confident as we enter Big Ten play. Considering the injuries we had earlier, we're right on schedule. Everyone is back, and we're improving. Our doubles teams are coming along nicely, and we now have enough depth that we feel good about playing our No. 7 and 8 people when we need to."

Though 13th-ranked Northwestern is the favorite to win its fourth consecutive Big Ten title, Lama feels his team will be in the hunt.

"Northwestern has set the standard in the Big Ten recently, but the conference overall has been getting better and better," Lama observed. "Even though they're very good, I think several teams have a chance to win it this year, including Illinois."

Lama doesn't want his players thinking ahead to their March 16 faceoff with the Wildcats in Evanston, however. It's the proverbial "one match at a time," as far as he's concerned.

"I don't want the girls even thinking about Michigan (Sunday's opponent) yet. They need to be focusing on how they'll play against Michigan State on Saturday, and nothing else," said Lama.

The Spartans come into Champaign-Urbana with a 6-2 season record, after victories over Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Illinois-Chicago, Miami (Ohio) and most recently at Ball State (6-1 on Feb. 17). Like the Illini, they lost earlier in the season at No. 2 Vanderbilt, 7-0.

Michigan is 3-3 going into its Saturday match at Northwestern. The Wolverines have picked up victories over Western Michigan, Illinois-Chicago and DePaul, but have fallen to 13th-ranked Notre Dame, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 16 Kentucky.

Illinois is 18-9 all time vs. Michigan State and 9-16 vs. Michigan over the years. Last year the Fighting Illini, then ranked No. 26, opened the conference campaign with a 5-2 victory at then-No. 56 Michigan and won at then-unranked Michigan State, 7-0.

Saturday is UIUC Student Day at Atkins. The first 25 UI students will receive Illini Tennis t-shirts, and free pizza and Coke products will be available while supplies last. Sunday marks Youth Day at the tennis center. UI Head Coach Sujay Lama and Assistant Coach JoAnne Russell will put on a free 30-minute tennis clinic for boys and girls, eighth grade and younger, following the match. Kids will also be able to meet their favorite Illini players and collect autographs.

Following this weekend's matches, the Illini jump out of conference action for the final time during the regular season with contests at North Carolina March 2 and at Duke March 3.