April 14, 2002

After digging themselves a 3-0 hole, Illinois' women's tennis team roared back, winning four of six singles matches to defeat No. 37 Wisconsin today at the Atkins Tennis Center in an emotional match. The Illini evened their overall record at 10-10 and moved into third place in the Big Ten with a 5-3 record in conference play. The loss dropped the Badgers to 6-3 in the Big Ten and to 13-7 overall.

Freshman Cynthya Goulet put the Illini on the board with a 6-0, 6-4 victory at No.5 singles and junior co-captain Eldina Fazlic registered a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on court 4. On court 1, sophomore Jennifer McGaffigan, ranked 55th nationally evened the score with a three-set victory at No. 1. This set the stage for heroics by junior co-captain Michelle Webb.

After dropping the first set, Webb came back to pick up a tiebreaker win in the second set, forcing the final set. Webb jumped ahead 3-0, but her opponent, Lindsay Martin fought her way back into the match, eventually taking a 6-5 lead. Webb broke Martin's serve to tie the match at 6 and send it to the tiebreaker. The players battled to a 3-3 tie before Webb took control and closed out the match, after which she was mobbed by her teammates.

"It felt really good to get this win," said Webb. "Personally, I have had a rough year and this win will help me to re-gain my confidence. I am happy for the team, a win like this will give us a huge boost, knowing that we can win the close matches."

Fazlic agreed "We had lost a some close ones earlier, but this win will give us the confidence we need. I knew that I needed to win, but I did not have to put too much pressure on myself because of the confidence I have in my teammates."

Said head coach Sujay Lama, "Today was an awesome team effort. We could have thrown in the towel, but we fought back and picked up the win. Today's match was proof that working hard and believing in your teammates will lead to good things. I am so happy for the team, we deserve it. Today was a huge mental breakthrough, to be down 3-0 to the second place team and come back and pick up the win was great."

Illinois finishes up its regular season next weekend when the team travels to Ohio State and Penn State.

No. 67 Illinois 4, No. 37 Wisconsin 3

SINGLES

1. # 55 Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Vanessa Rauh (WIS) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5

2. Linde Mues (WIS) def. Tiffany Eklov (ILL) 6-4, 6-1

3. Shana McElroy (WIS) def. Eva Choe (ILL) 6-3, 6-4

4. Eldina Fazlic (ILL) def. Katie McGaffigan (WIS) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

5. Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. Katie Dougherty (WIS) 6-0, 6-4

6. Michelle Webb (ILL) def. Lindsay Martin (WIS) 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 (3)

DOUBLES

1. Mues/Vojnov (WIS) def. Webb/Goulet (ILL) 8-1

2. Dougherty/Gonzaga (WIS) def. McGaffigan/Choe (ILL) 8-6

3. Martin/McGaffigan (WIS) def. Eklov/Fazlic (ILL) 8-2