April 26, 2003

Illinois' women's tennis team was beaten 4-2 by Northwestern Saturday afternoon in a Big Ten tournament semifinal match-up. The loss is the second time in the last three years that the Wildcats have ended Illinois' tournament run. In 2001, Northwestern defeated the Illini 4-2 in the championship match.

The Fighting Illini won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles, but were unable to pick up a win at Nos. 1 or 3.

"Our No. 2 played incredibly well," Head Coach Sujay Lama said. "We had opportunities a No. 3, but we weren't able to execute. Losing the doubles point put a lot of pressure on us going into singles."

Illinois started quickly in singles, as junior Tiffany Eklov breezed past 72nd-ranked Jessica Rush, 6-1, 6-1. The win avenged Eklov's only Big Ten loss, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 setback to Rush on March 29th. The victory pushed Eklov's winning streak to nine in a row.

"Tiffany has made by far the most improvement of any player in college tennis," Lama said. "I've never seen a kid make a jump like she has in such a short time. I believe she has a future playing professionally. She has great weapons. Her serve and forehand are amazing. I'm so happy for her. She's so much fun to be around, I'm just happy that we're fortunate to have her around for another year."

At No. 5, Michelle Webb cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Ruth Barnes to give the Illini a 2-1 advantage.

The lead was short lived, as Northwestern won matches at Nos. 1, 3 and 4 to clinch the match and a berth in tomorrow's championship match versus Minnesota. The Gophers were 4-2 winners over Purdue in Saturday's other semifinal match.

"This loss shouldn't take away from our accomplishments this year," Lama said. "Our focus now turns to regionals. We started this season in Florida (versus Miami) and it has been a goal of ours to finish in Gainsville."

The Illini will be in action again in the NCAA tournament which begins May 9. Tournament pairings will be announced Wednesday afternoon.

Today's Illinois Results:
SINGLES:
1	#11 Cristelle Grier (NW) def. # 64 Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL)   7-5, 6-3
2	#111 Tiffany Eklov (ILL) vs. #72 Jessica Rush (NW)	        6-1, 6-1
3	Jamie Peisel (NW) def. Eldina Fazlic (ILL)	                 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
4	#112 Andrea Yung (NW) def. Brianna Knue (ILL)	                 6-4, 6-4
5	Michelle Webb (ILL) de.f Ruth Barnes (NW)	                 6-2, 6-0
6	Leila Cehajic (ILL) vs.  Stacy Kokx (NW)	                 abandoned

DOUBLES: 1 #10 Grier/Rush (NW) def.#20 McGaffigan/Webb (ILL) 8-3 2 Eklov/Fazlic (ILL) def. Barnes/Yung (NW) 8-6 3 Peisel/Kokx (NW) def. Knue/Cehajic (ILL) 8-4