March 23, 2005
The Illinois women's tennis team hopes to take on its opponents outdoors this weekend after returning from its training/competition trip to Florida. But high temperatures in Champaign-Urbana are forecast for the upper 40's Saturday and Sunday, when the Illini host Penn State and Indiana in 11 a.m. matches, so it appears that Coach Sujay Lama's troops will have to wait until their next home series (April 9-10 vs. Michigan State and Michigan) to venture outside.
"The matches we got here at the Georgia Tech Invite (in Naples, Fla.) the last couple of days were very helpful in getting us ready for the outdoor season," said Lama, whose team is taking today off in the Sunshine State before returning to campus.
Players from Illinois and Georgia Tech competed in a number of informal singles and doubles matches since Saturday. The results of those contests do not count toward the players' season records, nor will they affect any national rankings, due to the fact that the competition was unsanctioned by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
The Fighting Illini bring a 7-5 overall record, a 1-0 Big Ten slate and the nation's No. 51 ranking into Saturday's meeting with Penn State. The unranked Nittany Lions are 5-5 on the season and 0-1 in the conference after victories over American Temple, Kansas, Marshall and Lehigh and losses to Penn, Yale, Middle Tennessee Sate, Valdosta State and, in their only Big Ten match thus far, to Indiana. Penn State's leading player is Maaria Husain, who plays at No. 1 singles.
Illinois has never lost to the Nittany Lions in 14 tries, dating back to the series opener during the 1991-92 season. Last year the Illini, ranked No. 17 by the ITA at the time, survived a scare, winning 4-3, in State College.
Conversely, the Orange and Blue is 5-29 over the years against Indiana. The Fighting Illini will have revenge on their minds on Sunday, since it was Indiana who knocked them out of contention for their first-ever Big Ten title with a 4-3 decision in Bloomington on the final day of the regular season.
The Hoosiers are ranked No. 43 this week; they are 7-7 on the season. Illinois and Indiana have had several common opponents so far this season. Against Wake Forest, Indiana won, Illinois lost; against Tennessee, both Illinois and Indiana lost; both teams beat Marquette; and against Western Michigan, Indiana won and Illinois lost. There are a couple of connections between the the Illini and the Hoosiers. Sophomore Laura McGaffigan, who leads the team with 19 wins, is the sister of Jennifer McGaffigan, who graduated last May as Illinois' career leader in both singles and doubles victories. And reserve Kara Zeder is the sister of former Illini tennis player Nathan, and Evan, who is a senior on Craig Tiley's second-ranked UI men's team.
Senior Cynthya Goulet leads the way for Illinois. Listed at No. 59 by the ITA, she will be the only ranked player on the courts this weekend. She is 19-5 in singles this season after having won 12 of her last 13 matches; five of those victories have come against Top-100 opponents. Goulet and sophomore Emily Wang comprise Illinois' No. 1 doubles team, which has a 19-7 record. Junior Brianna Knue and freshman Macall Harkins have also played strong at No. 2; their record is 21-5.
"We are excited to get back home for two Big Ten matches," said Lama. "I expect both matches to be hard fought. One of our goals this year is to capitalize on our home-court advantage. We got off to a good start versus Purdue and we would like to keep it going this weekend against Penn State and Indiana. "
