April 24, 2005
The Fighting Illini women's tennis team closed out the regular season on a positive note, blitzing cellar-dwelling Minnesota, 7-0, at the Atkins Tennis Center. The victory moved Illinois' record to 12-10 overall and 6-4 in Big Ten play. In addition, it was UI Coach Sujay Lama's 100th career victory. The win also enabled the Illini to finish the regular season in a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference.
Responding to Lama's challenge before the match, the Orange and Blue won eight of nine matches against the Golden Gophers to gain some steam heading into the Big Ten Tournament, which begins Thursday in East Lansing, Mich.
"It was a good way to go out for our seniors, Lama said. "Our goal was to win both matches this weekend (the Illini lost to Iowa yesterday), but we're still pleased to have the momentum from today to take us into the post-season."
During a brief Senior Day recognition ceremony between doubles and singles, Leila Cehajic and Cynthya Goulet thanked fans for supporting them throughout their careers.
Goulet lost in doubles but won her 28th match of the season in her home finale; she tied Sue Hutchinson and Maureen McNamara for seventh place on the UI single season wins list.
The win was the fourth shutout victory of the year for the Illini. Marquette, Portland and Illinois State were the others.
Freshman Momei Qu won her 20th match of the season by defeating the Golden Gophers' Ida Malmberg 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 3 contest. Qu had not lost her last two matches after a streak which saw her win 12 of 14.
Junior Brianna Knue had the closest call in singles for Illinois today; she needed three sets and two tie-breakers to knock off the Maroon and Gold's Danielle Mousseau at No. 4
Afterward, Lama deflected credit for his reaching the 100-win milestone to assistant coach JoAnne Russell and to his team.
"It's just a number, but it means that we've had some success here at Illinois. Players have improved while they've been here," Lama said. "JoAnne is like another head coach. The staff is excellent; everyone does his part, and we have a great family atmosphere here at Illinois. That's what I'm most proud of."
Illinois (6-4, 12-10) has had a top-five seed at the Big Ten Tournament every year during Lama's six-year tenure. Although the official pairings have not yet been released, it is expected that Illinois will be the No. 4 seed. If that's the case, the Illini will open post-season play Friday at 10 a.m. ET against the Wisconsin Badgers whom they defeated, 4-3, last weekend in Madison.
Under that scenario, if the Illini would win Friday, they would play undefeated league champion Northwestern or the winner of the Penn State-Ohio State match Saturday at 10 a.m.
SUNDAY'S RESULTS:
SINGLES:
1 #34 Cynthya Goulet (ILL) def. #91 Nischela Reddy (MINN) 6-2, 6-3
2 Macall Harkins (ILL) def. Jane Anderson (MINN) 7-6 (5), 6-2
3 Momei Qu (ILL) def. Ida Malmberg (MINN) 6-3, 6-2
4 Brianna Knue (ILL) def. Danielle Mousseau (MINN) 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7)
5 Emily Wang (ILL) def. Marina Bugaenco (MINN) 6-3, 6-1
6 Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) def. Megan Steiger (MINN) 6-2, 6-0
DOUBLES: 1 Jane Anderson/Ida Malmberg (MINN) def. #54 Cynthya Goulet/Emily Wang (ILL) 9-8 (2) 2 Macall Harkins/Brianna Knue (ILL) def. Nischela Reddy/Marina Bugaenco (MINN) 8-5 3 Pavlina Akritas/Momei Qu (ILL) def. Shelby Rohrer/Danielle Mousseau (MINN) 8-1
