April 15, 2006

URBANA, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's tennis team dropped their match 6-1 to No. 9 Northwestern at the Atkins Tennis Center outdoor courts on Saturday afternoon, but sophomore Macall Harkins notched her eighth consecutive win to remain perfect in Big Ten matches. The Wildcats improve to 16-4 and 8-0 in the Big Ten conference while the Illini fall to 6-12 and 1-6 in conference matches. NU head coach Claire Pollard and her squad are in first place in the conference and are seeking their eighth straight conference championship.

"I am very proud of our effort," head coach Sujay Lama said. "Everyone gave it all they had. Northwestern is a great team, but I feel like we battled hard and I am so proud of our team. I think today will definitely give us confidence going into tomorrow's match."

The Illini dropped their doubles matches at No. 3 and No. 2, but the 41st-ranked duo of junior Emily Wang and sophomore Macall Harkins were in position for another upset. Illinois' tandem went up 4-2, but the nation's tenth-ranked doubles team of Cristelle Grier and Alexis Prousis fought back to tie it at seven apiece. Since the `Cats already clinched the doubles point, the match at No. 1 went in to a tiebreaker where the Orange and Blue stormed out of the gate to an early 5-2 lead, but Northwestern's top team came back to win the tiebreaker 10-8.

Northwestern's momentum carried over to singles where they took all but one first set. No. 44 Georgia Rose picked up the `Cats first singles win with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of sophomore Momei Qu on court No. 2. Rose needs just four more consecutive wins to match Grier's school record of 28 straight

Jamie Peisel soon followed with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over junior Emily Wang on the fourth court while No. 24 Alexis Prousis downed senior Brianna Knue 6-2, 6-3. The `Cats picked up two more wins at Nos. 5 and 6 before the Illini got on the board.

It took two tiebreakers to do it, but Harkins notched her fifth victory over an ITA ranked opponent with her defeat of the nation's eighth-ranked player, 2005 All-American Grier. Harkins picked up her eighth straight victory while stopping Grier's eight match win streak with her 6-7(4), 6-0, 1-0(8) performance. This is Harkins' second win over a top-10 opponent. She defeated USC's Amanda Fink, ranked No. 7 at the time, on March 22.

"I played her (Grier) last year but I wasn't sure if I'd face her today," Harkins said. "I was excited to play her today to see how I'd match up. I had more confidence this year because of the wins and my game is coming together. She played real well and we had great points. It was an all-around great match."

The Illini will take on Wisconsin in the home finale for this year's team and marks the last home regular season match for seniors Brianna Knue and Pavlina Akritas. The match is scheduled for at 12 p.m. start. The Orange and Blue will return to Atkins Tennis Center April 27-30 as the host school of the Big Ten Tournament.

ILLINOIS 1, No. 9 Northwestern 6
Atkins Tennis Center
Urbana, Ill.

Singles:
1. No. 95 Macall Harkins (ILL) def. No. 8 Cristelle Grier (NU); 6-7(4), 6-0, 1-0 (8)
2. No. 44 Georgia Rose (NU) def. Momei Qu (ILL); 6-2, 6-2
3. No. 24 Aleis Prousis (NU) def. Bianna Knue (ILL); 6-2, 6-3
4. Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Emily Wang (ILL); 6-1, 6-3
5. Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Shivani Dave (ILL); 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (4)
6. Nazalie Ghazal (NU) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL); 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 1

Doubles:
1. No. 10 Grier/Prousis (NU) def. No. 41 Harkins/Wang (ILL); 8-7(8)
2. Rose/Esseghir (NU) def. Knue/Dave (ILL); 8-4
3. Peisel/Ghazal (NU) def. Qu/Cuadra (ILL); 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1