March 29, 2003
Illinois' women's tennis team was beaten 7-0 this afternoon by Northwestern, in Evanston, Ill. The loss drops the Illini to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten. The setback also snapped Illinois' five match win streak.
"Northwestern played an outstanding match," Illini Head Coach Sujay Lama said. "We came out flat in singles and today showed that if we don't show up for singles, we're going to lose badly."
On a day that Lama described the Illini's doubles performance the best of the year, Illinois won at No. 3, 9-7. With the score knotted at 7 apiece, junior Tiffany Eklov and partner Brianna Knue broke the Wildcats' serve to go up 8-7 and then capitalized on their service game, to pick up the victory.
After an 8-6 defeat at No. 2, the doubles point hinged on the match at No. 1. Jennifer McGaffigan and Michelle Webb, the nation's 15th ranked doubles tandem, took Northwestern's 13th ranked duo to a tiebreaker, but fell short, 9-8(3).
"After losing the doubles point, we weren't able to rebound mentally, which is the first time all year that has happened," Lama said.
In singles, the Illini managed to win just two sets.
Lama continued, "Today was a serious wake-up call. Tomorrow, Wisconsin will be a very tough opponent. It's important that we don't have a letdown in singles, no matter what happens in doubles."
Illinois looks to rebound tomorrow, travelling to Wisconsin. The match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CST.
Today's Illinois Results:
No. 26 Northwestern 7, No. 17 Illinois 0
SINGLES: 1. #7 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. #66 Jennifer McGaffigan (IL) 6-4, 6-1 2. #80 Jessica Rush (NU) def. #106 Tiffany Eklov (IL) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 3. Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Eldina Fazlic (IL) 6-1, 6-3 4. #98 Andrea Yung (NU) def. Eva Choe (IL) 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 5. Ruth Barnes (NU) def. Brianna Knue (IL) 6-4, 6-3 6. Kristi Roemer (NU) def. Michelle Webb (IL) 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES: 1. #13 Grier/Rush (NU) def. #15 McGaffigan/Webb (IL) 9-8 (3) 2. Barnes/Yung (NU) def. Fazlic/Choe (IL) 8-6 3. Eklov/Knue (IL) def. Roemer/Peisel (NU) 9-7
