April 13, 2005
Cynthya Goulet and Emily Wang upset the No. 4 doubles tandem in the nation, and freshman Macall Harkins and junior Brianna Knue continued their climb in the UI record books, but pressure intensified Wednesday night after the Illini lost, 4-3, to No. 26 Notre Dame at the Atkins Tennis Center.
The loss is this season's eighth 4-3 outcome (Illinois is 3-5 in those matches).
Goulet and Wang matched Notre Dame's Catrina and Christian Thompson point for point throughout the contest at No. 1. After the unranked UI team tied the match at 5, the pair picked up two consecutive points when one Notre Dame return hit the net and another lofty shot could not be returned. Knue and Harkins snatched win No. 26 (tied for ninth most in a single UI season) when Brook Buck and Lauren Connelly had similar difficulties in the No. 2 position.
Individually, Goulet, ranked 41st by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), defeated No. 37 Catrina Thompson 7-6(3), 6-4 for her 25th triumph and 19th in her last 20 outings. The senior is one win away from equaling her 2003-2004 win total which tied her for 11th best in school history.
Freshman Momei Qu shutout Christian Thompson in the first set of her match and won the second set, 6-4, to claim her 11th win in 13 matches.
"Cynthya and Momei did a great job," Head Coach Sujay Lama said. "They have toughness, they have that killer instinct, and they listen to coaching. That was so evident out there on the courts."
Unfortunately for the Illini, Knue did not fare as well in singles play. The junior initially led in the first two sets against Lauren Connelly but could not overcome a 0-3 deficit in the third set, as she battled back to 2-3 before surrendering three consecutive games.
"Brianna gave herself an opportunity to win. She was aggressive, she came to the net, but her opponent played very well. Sometimes you just have to hand it to the other player," Lama said. "Brianna was not tentative as she has been earlier in the year; she was playing to win."
Lama was stung by the loss but looked forward to this weekend's matches against Wisconsin and Northwestern before the Illini return home for their final two matches against Iowa and Minnesota.
"It hurts to lose, but our effort was good and it will still give our team a lot of confidence as we go to Wisconsin for the match on Saturday," Lama said. "I still think we're playing our best tennis of the year right now."
WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS:
#26 Notre Dame 4 at #54 Illinois 3
DOUBLES:
1 Cynthya Goulet/Emily Wang (ILL) def. #4Catrina Thompson/Christian Thompson (ND) 8-6
2 Macall Harkins/Brianna Knue (ILL) def. Brook Buck/Lauren Connelly (ND) 8-6
3 Sarah Jane Connelly/Kristina Stastny (ND) def. Pavlina Akritas/Momei Qu (ILL) 8-3
SINGLES: 1 #41 Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. #37 Catrina Thompson (ND) 7-6 (3), 6-4 2 #90 Brook Buck (ND) def. Macall Harkins (ILL) 6-1, 6-4 3 Momei Qu (ILL) def. Christian Thompson (ND) 6-0, 6-4 4 Lauren Connelly (ND) def. Brianna Knue (ILL) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 5 Kristina Stastny (ND) def. Emily Wang (ILL) 7-6 (6), 6-1 6 Sarah Jane Connelly (ND) def. Pavlina Akritas (ILL) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish--Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 6,2,3,5,1,4
