April 21, 2002
Illinois' women's tennis team finished its regular season in dramatic fashion, defeating the Penn State Lady Lions 4-3 today in State College, Pa. The win improves Illinois' record to 11-11 overall and 6-4 in Big Ten play, while the Lions fell to 6-13 overall and 1-9 in the conference. The Fighting Illini survived a furious rally by Penn State to win its first road match of the season. Today's match was forced inside due to poor weather conditions.
After yesterday's loss, Illinois began today with a couple of new combinations on the doubles side. The Illini responded by winning the doubles point, taking two of three matches. On court 1, the tandem of sophomore Jennifer McGaffigan and freshman Cynthya Goulet routed the Nittany Lions' Rebecca Ho and Leigh Ann Merryman, 8-3. The Nittany Lions won on court 2, 8-4, knotting the score at one match each and making the battle on court 3 the deciding contest. The UI duo of sophomore Tiffany Eklov and junior Eldina Fazlic rose to the occasion. After building a 5-2 advantage, Penn State roared back to tie the match at 8-8, forcing a match-deciding tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Fazlic and Eklov traded points with Penn State before putting the match away, winning 7-5 to give the Orange and Blue the match and the 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Using momentum gained from singles, the Orange and Blue looked as if they would run away with the match. McGaffigan, ranked 56th nationally, made it look easy with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Penn State's Rebecca Ho at No. 1, while Goulet quickly disposed of her foe, 6-2, 6-3 on court 6. Just when it looked as if the Illini were going to pull away, Penn State rallied to win three straight matches and tie the contest at three points each, with only one match, on court 4, still undecided.
Penn State's Merryman looked as if she was in control of her match versus UI sophomore Eva Choe, leading 6-4, 4-1 and serving, but with teammates rallying around her, Choe began her amazing comeback. After breaking serve, holding and breaking serve again, Choe rode the momentum and won an astonishing nine games in a row to win the second set and take a 3-0 lead in the deciding set. Merryman mounted a small charge to even the score at 3-3, but could not stop the determined Choe, who won 6-3 to give the Illini the victory.
"One by one, I saw my teammates come to my court," Choe said. "That's when I realized that my match was the clincher and that my team needed me. I told myself that no matter how hard this was, I was going to get through it for my team because how of hard we have worked both on and off the court. The energy that my teammates and coaches gave me was what pulled me through. I love them, all the credit should go to them."
"We got the spark we needed today in doubles," said head coach Sujay Lama. "All three teams played very well and going into singles we had the boost we wanted. Penn State made an unbelievable rally, but we responded well."
Lama continued, "Eva's match was one of the most amazing comebacks I have ever seen and I really enjoyed watching it. After she won the second set, there was no doubt in my mind that she would pull through."
The Illini begin post-season play in the Big Ten tournament later this week in Bloomington, IN. Illinois' seed and opponent have not yet been determined.
Today's Illinois Results
No. 46 Illinois 4, Penn State 3
Singles:
1. Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Rebecca Ho (PSU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Maaria Husain (PSU) def. Tiffany Eklov (ILL) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
3. Megan Marton (PSU) def. Eldina Fazlic (ILL) 7-6, 6-4
4. Eva Choe (ILL) def. Leigh Ann Merryman (PSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Judy Wang (PSU) def. Michelle Webb (ILL) 6-1, 6-1
6. Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. Sarah Spence (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles:
1. McGaffigan/Gouelt (ILL) def. Ho/Merryman (PSU) 8-2
2. Marton/Wang (PSU) def. Choe/Webb (ILL) 8-4
3. Eklov/Fazlic (ILL) def. Spence/Husain (PSU) 9-8 (5)
