Oct. 9, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team wrapped up a successful weekend at the Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas on Sunday evening. The Illini, who put some needed matches under their belts, look to use the experience as a building block for the season, and as good preparation for the upcoming Midwest Regional on Oct. 19-24.

"This weekend was a very positive opening to our season," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "It gave the girls and I a chance to see the things that we need to work on in practice so that we can get prepared for the Midwest Regional coming in two weeks. Overall, each player was able to get some wins and have a chance to compete against some top competition."

The doubles tandem of freshmen Leigh Finnegan and Megan Fudge, who entered Sunday's action undefeated on the young season, fell to a very talented pair from Georgia Tech in Whitney McCray and Amanda Craddock, 8-4. Despite the loss, Dasso was very pleased at how well the two competed in their first collegiate competition.

"Leigh and Megan did a tremendous job fighting out there today," Dasso said. "They proved that they are going to be a great doubles pair for us this season."

In other doubles action, sophomore Shivani Davé and junior Alejandra Meza Cuadra dropped their contest to Kalei Gora and Jordan McCombs of Lee, 8-5. Finishing the weekend on a high note, junior Momei Qu and freshman Kristina Minor defeated Melanie Brown and Melissa Guerrier of Prairie View A&M by a score of 8-2.

"Overall the, the team handled the hot temperatures well," Dasso said. "It was good for us to get out on the courts and play some tough matches in different conditions.

On the singles side of the weekend, two Illini took victories by default in their final matches. Finnegan closed out her debut tournament with a default win over Tiffany Lee of Rice, while Davé registered a default victory over Sandra Kukla of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA).

Fudge fought through a tough match against Gora, prevailing in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, while Qu took the winning end of another intra-squad battle between her and Meza Cuadra, winning 6-2, 6-2.  Minor, however, came up short against Jen Shay of SMU in a 7-5, 7-5 loss on the final day of action.

On the weekend, the Illini went 13-11 in singles affairs, while posting a 7-5 record in doubles tilts.

The Illini will be back in action at Midwest Regionals on Oct. 19-26 in East Lansing, Mich.

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 (ILL) 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)

Day 3: Sunday, Oct. 8
Singles [Blue Bracket]
Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Kalei Gora (Lee), 7-5, 6-3
Leigh Finnegan (ILL) def. Tiffany Lee (Rice), Default

Singles [Gray Bracket]
Momei Qu (ILL) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL), 6-2, 6-2
Shivani Davé (ILL) def. Sandra Kukla (UTSA),  Default
Jen Shay (SMU) def. Kristina Minor (ILL), 7-5, 7-5

Doubles [Blue Bracket]
Kalei Gora/Jordan McCombs (Lee) def. Davé/Meza Cuadra (ILL), 8-5
Qu/Minor (ILL) def. Melanie Brown/Melissa Guerrier (PVAM), 8-2
Whitney McCray/Amanda Craddock (GTech) def. Megan/Fudge (ILL), 8-4