Feb. 14, 2004
The Illinois women's tennis team upset No. 11 Harvard 5-2 earlier today at Atkins Tennis Center. This was Illinois' first action since a loss at Tennessee two weeks ago. With today's win the Illini improve to 3-1 on the season and also remain perfect on the season at home with a 3-0 record.
"We needed this win," assistant coach JoAnne Russell said. "The Tennessee loss really got to us. We had great practice this week, we were more feisty than we been in sometime. This was a great win and could get us rolling, whereas a loss may have sent us in the wrong direction. We're in a much better mood heading into the match at Wake Forest."
The Illini started the match off picking up the doubles point by winning two of the three matches. Jennifer McGaffigan and Cynthya Goulet improved to 4-0 this season with their doubles win. Tiffany Eklov and Isabel Jarosz added the Illini's second doubles victory.
"This was definitely a confidence booster," said Goulet. "These last two weeks we put in a lot of hard work and it paid off."
In singles action, the Illini had four players pick up victories. Jarosz picked up the second point for the Illini with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Preethi Mukundan. McGaffigan came back after dropping her first set 6-2 to claim victories in the next two sets 7-5, 7-5. Goulet won her match after her opponent, Alexis Matire, was forced to retire with an ankle injury. Eklov clinched the Illini victory with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Eva Wang.
"The crowd helped a lot," said Eklov. "There were some parts of my match that I wasn't playing my best, but I definitely didn't want to lose."
"Our preparation was fantastic, the women were very ready and they expected to win," said head coach Sujay Lama. "This win gives us a great deal of confidence. It's a good sign for us to play like this with the schedule we have coming up."
The next action for the Illini women will be next Saturday, February 21st at Wake Forest.
SATURDAY'S RESULTS:
Illinois 5, Harvard 2
DOUBLES:
1. #10 Jennifer McGaffigan/Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. #49 Courtney Bergman/Susanna Lingman (HAR) 8-3
2. Tiffany Eklov/Isabel Jarosz (ILL) def. Eva Wang/Alexis Matire (HAR) 8-3
3. Ashley Hyotte/Preethi Mukundan (HAR) def. Emily Wang/Brianna Knue (ILL) 8-4
SINGLES: 1. #22 Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Susanna Lingman (HAR) 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 2. Tiffany Eklov (ILL) def. Eva Wang (HAR) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 3. Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. Alexis Matire (HAR) 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-4 (ret) 4. Isabel Jarosz (ILL) def. Preethi Mukundan (HAR) 6-2, 7-5 5 Cindy Chu (HAR) def. Brianna Knue(ILL) 6-2, 6-4 6 Ashley Hyotte (HAR) def. Eva Choe (ILL) 7-5, 6-3
