Sept. 19, 2003

The Illinois women's tennis team wasted no time in corroborating Coach Sujay Lama's words from earlier this week: "they're ready." The Orange and Blue opened the fall season at the Bronco Invitational in Kalamazoo, Mich., hosted by Western Michigan University. The Illini were a late add to the field this week after their originally planned trip to the William & Mary Invitational in Virginia was cancelled due to the threat of Hurricane Isabel.

Illinois players won all eight of their singles matches today. In Flight "A," two Illini seniors, top-seeded Jennifer McGaffigan and No. 2 seed Tiffany Eklov breezed to straight-set victories over opponents from Eastern Michigan and Ball State, respectively, as did junior Cynthya Goulet over a player from Michigan State. Likewise, sophomores Brianna Knue and Pavlina Akritas and freshman Isabel Jarosz dominated in two sets over their foes from Ball State and Marquette (Knue and Akritas) in Flight "B" competition. And in the Flight "C" bracket, junior Leila Cehajic and freshman Emily Wang followed suit with two-set victories over players from Western Michigan and Ball State.

In doubles, the Fighting Illini weren't so dominant, but they did take five of their eight matches. In Flight "A," second-seeded McGaffigan and Goulet were 8-1 victors over a Ball State pair, but later lost to a duo from Indiana. Akritas and Knue lost to an Eastern Michigan tandem, but came back with a win over two competitors from Marquette. Eklov and Wang also split their two matches, defeating a pair of Marquette players, but losing to Vastag and Laura McGaffigan (Jennifer's sister) of Indiana. Cehajic and Jarosz swept their Flight "B" contests with duos from Eastern Michigan and Ball State.

"I thought we looked particularly sharp, especially for an opening day," said Lama, "especially in singles. In doubles, the players have not been together long enough to play quite as well---these are all new sets of partners. Our players showed some nervousness at the beginning of the day, but they soon got past that. Tomorrow should be a little better test for us as we move on to tougher second-round matches."

DAY ONE ILLINOIS RESULTS:

Singles:
#44 Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Kendra Clark (Eastern Michigan)  6-1, 6-0
Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. Caroline Lay (Michigan State)              6-3, 6-3
#57 Tiffany Eklov (ILL) def. Katie Owens (Ball State)                6-3, 6-0
Brianna Knue (ILL) def. Jenny Batty (Ball State)                     6-1, 6-0
Isabel Jarosz (ILL) def. Callan Smith (Marquette)                    6-2, 6-1
Pavlina Akritas (ILL) def. Kathrine Nasteva (Marquette)             6-3, 6-2
Leila Cehajic (ILL) def. Maelynn Bernosky (Western Michigan)         6-4, 6-0
Emily Wang (ILL) def. Beth Campus (Ball State)                       6-0, 6-2

Doubles: #31 Jennifer McGaffigan/Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. Jill Weiman/Jessica Thompson (Ball State) 8-1 Martina Grimm/Sarah Batty (Indiana) def. #31 Jennifer McGaffigan/Cynthya Goulet (ILL) 8-4 Tiffany Eklov/Emily Wang (ILL) def. Veronica Garcia-Briseno/Kathrine Nasteva (Marquette) 8-6 Dora Vastag/Laura McGaffigan (Indiana) def. Tiffany Eklov/Emily Wang (ILL) 8-5 Victoria Domina/Kendra Clark (Eastern Michigan) def. Pavlina Akritas/Brianna Knue (ILL) 9-7 Pavlina Akritas/Brianna Knue (ILL) def. Callan Smith/Annabelle Espinosa (Marquette) 8-2 Leila Cehajic/Isabel Jarosz (ILL) def. Kansuthi/Marijana Adzic (Eastern Michigan) 8-3 Leila Cehajic/Isabel Jarosz (ILL) def. Jenny Batty/Susan Kelley (Ball State) 8-3