April 17, 2005
The Illinois women's tennis team, try as it might, just couldn't win a set when it took on third-ranked and Big Ten-leading Northwestern this afternoon in Evanston, Ill. Perhaps revenge was on the minds of the Wildcats, who, then No. 7, were upset by the Orange and Blue last April in Urbana.
Whatever the mindset, Northwestern attacked Illinois right from the start and never let up, winning 7-0.
Cynthya Goulet and Emily Wang had the unenviable task of taking on the nation's No. 1 doubles duo, Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier. They were no match for the NU pair, losing 8-1. The Wildcats scored the doubles point when, at No. 3, Valerie Vladea and Feriel Esseghir dispatched Illinois' Momei Qu and Pavlina Akritas, 8-3. Macall Harkins and Brianna Knue battled 36th-ranked Alexis Prousis and Kristi Roemer tough, coming back to within 7-6 after being down, 4-0, earlier; they fell, 8-6.
"Northwestern played very good doubles," said UI Head Coach Sujay Lama. "They jumped on us right off the bat. But give credit to Brianna and Macall, they put forth a strong effort."
Knue ran into a very hot Valerie Vladea at No. 4 singles. The former Minnesota player put the Wildcats up, 2-0, after making short work of the Illini junior, 6-0, 6-1. In the No. 3 contest, Momei Qu saw her eight-match winning streak come to a halt at the hands of No. 66 Alexis Prousis, 6-1, 6-4. It was Andrea Yung who clinched the match for Northwestern with her 6-3, 6-0 win over UI sophomore Emily Wang at No. 5.
Two Illini players managed to extend their opponents to set tiebreakers. No. 41 Cynthya Goulet fell to the No. 3-ranked Cohen, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the No. 1 battle. It was Goulet's first loss since Feb. 26 when she was beaten by then-fifth-ranked Dea Sumantri of Washington. After Harkins fought the 16th-ranked Grier in a 6-4, 6-4 loss at No. 2, Illini first-semester freshman Alejandra Cuadra gave the `Cats Alexis Conill all she could handle in a 7-5, 7-6 (4) defeat.
"I wasn't sure how we would react after doubles, but we battled throughout the match," said Lama. "We had chances to win sets, but we just couldn't get it done. Northwestern is a terrific team with great talent. There is a good reason that they are ranked third in the country."
With the loss, Illinois' record drops to 11-9 overall and 5-3 in Big Ten play. The Illini are currently tied with Michigan for fourth place in the conference race, one game behind Indiana and next Saturday's opponent, Iowa. Meanwhile, Northwestern improves to 20-2 for the season and 9-0 in the league.
The Fighting Illini will make every effort to maintain or improve their conference standing next weekend when Iowa and Minnesota come to Champaign-Urbana to close out the regular season. Wins over the Hawkeyes and winless Minnesota next weekend could vault the Orange and Blue to as high as a second-place finish in the conference, but would certainly enable Illinois to finish among the conference's top five teams and receive a berth directly into the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal in East Lansing, Mich., April 29 (and not have to play April 28).
SUNDAY'S RESULTS:
at #3 Northwestern 7, #54 Illinois 0
DOUBLES:
1 #1 Audra Cohen/Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Cynthya Goulet/Emily Wang (ILL) 8-1
2 #36 Alexis Prousis/Kristi Roemer (NU) def. Macall Harkins/Brianna Knue (ILL) 8-6
3 Valerie Vladea/Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Momei Qu/Pavlina Akritas 8-3
SINGLES: 1 #3 Audra Cohen (NU) def. #41 Cynthya Goulet (ILL) 6-3, 7-6 (1) 2 #16 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Macall Harkins (ILL) 6-4, 6-4 3 #66 Alexias Prousis (NU) def. Momei Qu (ILL) 6-1, 6-4 4 Valerie Vladea (NU) def. Brianna Knue (ILL) 6-0, 6-1 5 Andrea Yung (NU) def. Emily Wang (ILL) 6-3, 6-0 6 Alexis Conill (NU) def. Alejandra Cuadra (ILL) 7-5, 7-6 (4)
Order of finish--Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 4,3,5,1,2,6
