March 16, 2002

Illinois' women's tennis team dropped its match Saturday to Northwestern in Evanston. The loss drops the Orange and Blue to 7-8 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten. NU improves to 11-4 overall and 5-0 in conference play.

"We lost to a very good Northwestern team," Illini Head Coach Sujay Lama said. "They dictated the match from the beginning and played very aggressive tennis throughout the match. We competed pretty well, but they were flat out better than us today."

The Fighting Illini experimented with a couple of new doubles combinations, but still dropped each match, 8-1.

Illinois did not fare much better in singles action, losing four of the six matches in straight-sets. Freshman Cynthya Goulet did not compete today. Last weekend, Goulet pulled out of a match and had been listed as day-to-day this week due to a nagging hamstring injury.

"Our team is looking forward to a week break in Arizona to recuperate, relax, and train," Lama stated. "We always play our best tennis after spring break. We want to get out of the funk we're in with a good trip and hopefully we can get on a roll the next couple of weeks."

Illinois returns to the courts on Saturday when they square off against No. 31 Arizona in Tuscon.

Today's Illinois Results:

No. 14 Northwestern 7, No. 46 Illinois 0






SINGLES



1. #23 Marine Piriou (NU) def. # 43 Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL)	6-2, 4-6, 10-3
2. Lia Jackson (NU) def. #109 Tiffany Eklov (ILL)		6-2, 6-0
3. #64 Jessica Rush (NU) def. Eva Choe (ILL)			2-6, 6-1, 6-0
4. Simona Petrutiu (NU) def. Kate Boomershine (ILL)		6-2, 6-4
5. Andrea Yung (NU) def. Eldina Fazlic (ILL)			6-1, 7-6
6. Ruth Barnes (NU) def. Michelle Webb (ILL)			6-0, 6-4

DOUBLES
1. #35 Jackson/Petrutiu (NU) def. Choe/McGaffigan (ILL)	8-1
2. #29 Piriou/Rush (NU) def. Webb/Fazlic (ILL)		8-1
3. Yung/Barnes (NU) def. Boomershine/ Leila Cehajic (ILL)	8-1