March 12, 2003

The 25th-ranked Fighting Illini women's tennis team will look to stretch its current win streak to six matches Sunday against 42nd ranked Baylor. The Illini, at 8-3 and coming off a 6-1 win over Marquette last Saturday continue to take the season one match at a time.

"We are continuing to focus on ourselves, rather than worrying about the teams we'll be facing," Head Coach Sujay Lama said. "We respect everyone, and we won't overlook anyone. My challenge to our players is to improve; we can't get complacent."

In singles, Illinois is anchored by junior Jennifer McGaffigan, ranked 60th nationally and classmate Tiffany Eklov, who is No. 91. One of the Illini's strengths is the depth in their singles line-up.

"Our depth is starting to show," Lama said. "Lately we have been getting production from all of the spots in our lineup."

McGaffigan and senior Michelle Webb team to give Illinois the nation's 19th ranked doubles pair. The Illini have won the doubles point in four of the five matches during the current winning streak.

Baylor is 4-6 on the year, after beating Missouri 5-2 last Saturday. The Bears travel to Pepperdine on Thursday and play host to Kansas State on Saturday before entertaining the Illini on Sunday. Vida Mulec, No. 107 nationally is Baylor's lone ranked performer.

"Baylor has a good program," Lama said. "It will be a very tough match for us, playing at their place. At the same time, we're very confident that we can win."

"After the Baylor match, we'll take a couple of days off," Lama said. "This year we don't have any matches scheduled during spring break. The players will stay on campus during break and we will train hard for the stretch run of the season."

The Fighting Illini have an extended break following Sunday's match before traveling to Northwestern on March 29th and to Wisconsin on the 30th.