Oct. 8, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team put another successful day at the Rice Invitational at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston, Texas in the books on Saturday. Freshman Leigh Finnegan, Megan Fudge and Kristina Minor continued to play well at the three-day event, while Finnegan and Fudge paired together to remain unbeaten in doubles action.
The tournament is designed to give players the maximum amount of matches through out the three days, having players play through a tournament bracket. The draw split the competitors from nine different institutions into three singles brackets and two doubles. Fudge and Finnegan competed in the Blue Bracket of the classic, while junior Alejandra Meza Cuadra, junior Momei Qu, sophomore Shivani Davé and Minor each competed in the Gray Bracket. For doubles, all of the Illini tandems were in the Blue Bracket.
Opening the day with doubles, Finnegan and Fudge continued their winning ways, fighting past Christine Doa and Emily Braid of Rice, 9-8 (3). The two then had a hard-fought match against Karen Scida and Tonya Hasking of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), prevailing in the marathon match, 9-8 (5). In Davé and Meza Cuadra's doubles tilt, the Illini cruised through their second round match with an 8-2 victory over Holly Phillips and Eva Silvester of UTSA. Using that momentum, the tandem squeezed out a win over Sandra Kukla and Natalie Wallin of UTSA, 9-8 (3). Wrapping up the doubles action, Qu and Minor fell in their opening contest to Alanna Rodgers and Rebecca Lin of Rice, 8-2, before returning to form in their win over Jana Bielikova (Baylor) and Stephanie Rodrigues (Rice), 9-8 (3).
Final day action pits Finnegan/Fudge against the tandem of Whitney McCray and Amanda Craddock of Georgia Tech, Davé/Meza Cuadra against Kalei Gora and Jordan McCombs of Lee and QU/Minor against the pair from Prairie View A&M, Melanie Brown and Melissa Guerrier. Action begins in doubles at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8.
In singles action, Fudge took down Karen Scida of UTSA, 6-2, 6-2, while fellow freshmen Leigh Finnegan fell in a heartbreaker to Christine Doa of Rice, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Davé prevailed in her intra-squad match against Meza Cuadra, 6-2, 6-2, while Qu came up short against Kukla in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Rounding out the action, Minor rolled over her opponent, Braid, dominating the Rice netter 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Singles matches on Sunday include Fudge taking on Gora, Finnegan matched against Tiffany Lee of Rice, Meza Cuadra facing her second Illini in teammate Qu, Davé hitting the court against Kukla and Minor rounding out the action against Jen Shay from SMU. Action is tentatively set for a 10 a.m. start, or after the conclusion of doubles.
For full tournament results, brackets, match ups and scores, visit fightingillini.com at the conclusion of each day's action.
Complete Tournament Brackets in PDF Format
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NAMING THE FIELD
The Rice Tennis Classic will be held on the campus of Rice University. The field includes Baylor, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Lee College, Prairie View A&M, Rice, SMU, Texas Southern and UT-San Antonio.
TOURNAMENT BREAKDOWN
The tournament consists of three singles brackets (Blue, Gray, White), with the Blue and Gray brackets consisting of 16 competitors each. The White bracket includes eight competitors. In doubles, there are two brackets, the Blue which contains 16 pairs and the gray with only four teams. Play is scheduled to begin each day with doubles at 8 a.m. (CST) on Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. (CST) on Sunday.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Day 1: Friday, Oct. 6
Singles [Blue Bracket]
Julie Chao (Rice) def. Megan Fudge (ILL), 6-1, 7-6(3)
Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Zuzana Chmelarova (Baylor), 6-2, 6-3
Leigh Finnegan (ILL) def. Alanna Rodgers (Rice), 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
Iva Mihaylova (Baylor) def. Leigh Finnegan (ILL), 7-5, 6-3
Singles [Gray Bracket]
Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) def. Kimberly Patenaude (Rice), 0-6, 6-2, Def.
Whitney McCray (GTech) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL), 6-1, 6-2
Shivani Davé (ILL) def. Jen Shay (SMU), 7-6(1), 6-2
Rebecca Lin (Rice) def. Shivani Davé (ILL), 6-3, 6-2
Momei Qu (ILL) def. Emily Braid (Rice), 6-2, 6-2
Christy Striplin (GTech) def. Momei Qu (ILL), 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
Jana Bielikova (Baylor) def. Kristina Minor (ILL), 6-2, 6-2
Kristina Minor (ILL) def. Stephanie Rodriguez (Lee), 6-3, 6-1
Doubles [Blue Bracket]
Iva Mihaylova/Zuzana Chmelarova (Baylor) def. Davé /Meza Cuadra (ILL), 8-3
Christy Striplin/Amanda McDowell (GTech) def. Qu/Minor (ILL), 8-2
Finnegan/Fudge (ILL) def. Kalei Gora/Jordan McCombs (Lee), 8-6
Day 2: Saturday, Oct. 7
Singles [Blue Bracket]
Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Karen Scida (UTSA), 6-2, 6-2
Christine Dao (Rice) def. Leigh Finnegan (ILL), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Singles [Gray Bracket]
Shivani Davé (ILL) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL), 6-2, 6-0
Sandra Kukla (UTSA) def. Momei Qu (ILL), 6-2, 6-4
Kristina Minor def. Emily Braid (Rice), 6-3, 6-1
Doubles [Blue Bracket]
Davé/Meza Cuadra (ILL) def. Holly Phillips/Eva Silvester (UTSA), 8-2
Davé/Meza Cuadra (ILL) def. Sandra Kukla/Natalie Wallin (UTSA), 9-8 (7-3)
Alanna Rodgers/Rebecca Lin (Rice) def. Qu/Minor (ILL), 9-8 (4)
Qu/Minor (ILL) def. Jana Bielikova (Baylor)/Stephanie Rodriguez (Lee), 8-2
Finnegan/Fudge (ILL) def. Christine Doa/Emily Braid, 9-8 (3)
Finnegan/Fudge (ILL) def. Karen Scida/Tonya Hasking (UTSA), 9-8(5)
UPCOMING MATCHES
Singles [Blue Bracket]
Megan Fudge (ILL) vs. Kalei Gora (Lee), 10 a.m.
Leigh Finnegan (ILL) vs. Tiffany Lee (Rice), 10 a.m.
Singles [Gray Bracket]
Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) vs. Momei Qu (ILL), 10 a.m.
Shivani Davé (ILL) vs. Sandra Kukla (UTSA), 10 a.m.
Kristina Minor (ILL) vs. Jen Shay (SMU), 10 a.m.
Doubles [Blue Bracket]
Davé/Meza Cuadra (ILL) vs. Kalei Gora/Jordan McCombs (Lee), 9 a.m.
Qu/Minor (ILL) vs. Melanie Brown/Melissa Guerrier (PVAM), 9 a.m.
Finnegan/Fudge (ILL) vs. Whitney McCray/Amanda Craddock (GTech), 9 a.m.
-ILLINI-
