Oct. 1, 2004

The Fighting Illini women's tennis team went 6-8 in singles competition and 1-2 in doubles play today during the first of three days of play at the Kentucky Fall Invitational in Lexington, Ky.

Momei Qu, Pavlina Akritas, Cynthya Goulet, Macall Harkins, Emily Wang and Elizabeth Dolan each came up with a singles victory today for the Orange and Blue. Dolan's match was her collegiate debut, since she didn't play in the opener due to an injury.

"We did have some bright spots," said Illinois Head Coach Sujay Lama. "Momei (Qu) had a nice win over Arkansas' No. 1 player, for example. On the other hand, Anastasia (Sokolova) had to retire from her singles match due to back spasms. Our players need to do a better job capitalizing when they have their chances to put their opponents away. We definitely had some ups and downs, but we continue to make progress. We wish we had some more wins, but we are further along than we were for the opening tournament at Western Michigan two weeks ago."

The five-flight (singles), three day, 10-team affair continues tomorrow. For complete brackets and results, consult http://www.ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=51&change_well_id=1 on the internet.

Today's Illinois Results:

Singles: Ana-Marie Cibils (Middle Tennessee State) def. Emily Wang (Illinois) - 6-4, 6-3 Momei Qu (Illinois) def. Maryori Franco (Arkansas) - 6-3, 6-4 Suzanna Gracanin (Louisville) def. Macall Hawkins (Illinois) - 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 Claudia Szabo (Middle Tennessee State) def. Anastasia Sokolova (Illinois) - 6-2, ret. Pavlina Akritas (Illinois) def. Jacqui Williams (Middle Tennessee State) - 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4 Iliana Pacheco (Arkansas) def. Brianna Knue (Illinois) - 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 Cynthya Goulet (Illinois) def. Ashley Kroh (Marshall) - (score not available) Macall Harkins (Illinois) def. Rachel Taylor (Abilene Christian) - 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 Melissa Cornett (Arkansas) def. Anastasia Sokolova (Illinois) - w/d, injury Emily Foster (Kentucky) def. Pavlina Akritas (Illinois) - 7-5, 6-1 Megan Moulton Levy (William & Mary) def. Cynthya Goulet (Illinois) - 6-1, 6-0 Megan Muth (William & Mary) def. Momei Qu (Illinois) - 6-0, 6-3 Emily Wang (Illinois) def. Caitlin O'Keefe (Ohio State) - 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 Leslie Stewart (Louisville) def. Brianna Knue (Illinois) - 7-5, 3-6, 6- Elizabeth Dolan (Illinois) def. Olivia Hill (Marshall) - 6-1, 6-3

Doubles: Megan Muth/Amy Wei (William & Mary) def. Cynthya Goulet/Emily Wang (Illinois) - 8-6 Macall Harkins/Brianna Knue (Illinois) def. Summer Beesley/Rachel Taylor (Abilene Christian) - 8-5 Natalie Lazskowski/Kelly Taylor (Louisville) def. Momei Qu-Pavlina Akritas (Illinois) - 8-2