Nov. 4, 2003

The Fighting Illini women's tennis team will be playing its first and only home tournament of the fall season this weekend when it hosts the fifth annual Midwest Blast. The Orange and Blue will welcome Virginia, Notre Dame and Miami to the Friday-Saturday-Sunday festivities at the Atkins Tennis Center. There will no brackets for the competition; teams will have their players facing opponents from the same school at the same time in mock dual-match format. No team scores will be kept.

"This is the last tournament of the fall before the regular season begins in the spring," said junior Leila Cehajic. "It's a chance for us to show our fans at home what we have been up to and what our team is looking like at this point in the season."

The tournament will feature several nationally ranked players. Leading the way for the Illini will be No. 57 Tiffany Eklov, a senior. "We are just really excited; we always play our best here at home," sshe said. "It's just nice to be able to play on our own courts and in front of our own fans."

Other ranked competitors will include Notre Dame's No. 26 Caylan Leslie and 63td-ranked Alicia Salas. The Fighting Irish also have two ranked doubles teams: No. 36 Lauren Connely and Alicia Salas, as well as No. 43 Sarah Connelly and Kristina Stastny. Miami will bring the Nos. 34 and 48 singles competitors in Megan Bradley and Melissa Applebaum, respectively. The Hurricanes also boast the 10th-ranked doubles team of Bradley and Applebaum. Virginia brings the 15th-ranked doubles team of Kristen Jones and Lori Stern.

"We love playing at home," said UI Head Coach Sujay Lama. "If you look at our results from the last five years, we are very tough at home. We love playing in front of our fans; we are comfortable with our courts and the surroundings. This is also one of the premier tournaments in the country. (Assistant Coach) JoAnne (Russell) founded this tournament. The whole idea was to create an event where the kids could have fun. We wanted to break away from the same old set-up like many other tournaments. The field with Virigina, Notre Dame and Miami is the strongest we have ever had at the Midwest Blast. It will be a great finale to an already successful fall season for us.

One person that will be missing from action at home this weekend will be senior Jennifer McGaffigan who received an at-large singles bid to the ITA National Indoor Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. this weekend. This will be the first time McGaffigan is going it alone. Last year she and then-senior Michelle Webb represented the Illini in the doubles competition after winning the ITA Midwest Regional.

"I went in the doubles round last year," said McGaffigan. "I'm really excited to go because everyone there is going to be really talented and any win I am able to get will be good for me."

There will be periodic updates of all the weekend action on www.fighingillini.com. Complete results for the National Indoor Championships can be found at www.itatennis.com

Schedule for Midwest Blast V:

Friday, November 7
9 a.m.      Doubles matches:  Illinois vs. Virginia and Notre Dame vs. Miami
10 a.m.     Singles matches:  Virginia vs. Notre Dame
Noon        Mini-Blast bonus singles and doubles matches
4 p.m.      Kids tennis clinic
6 p.m.      Singles matches: Illinois vs. Miami

Saturday, November 8
9 a.m.      Doubles matches: Illinois vs. Notre Dame and Miami vs. Virginia
10 a.m.     Singles matches:  Miami vs. Notre Dame
Noon        Mini-Blast bonus singles and doubles matches
3:30 p.m.   Singles matches: Illinois vs. Virginia

Sunday, November 9
8 a.m.     Doubles matches: Illinois vs. Miami and Virginia vs. Notre Dame
9 a.m.     Singles matches:  Miami vs. Virginia
11 a.m.    Mini-Blast bonus singles and doubles matches
1 p.m.     Singles matches:  Illinois vs. Notre Dame