April 28, 2006
URBANA, Ill. - The Illini were looking for their second upset in as many days in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament held at the Atkins tennis Center. Illinois left it all on the court, but it wasn't enough to stop No. 2 seed Iowa, as the Orange and Blue netters concluded the season with an emotional 4-0 loss to the Hawkeyes.
"Iowa is a very good team and they had us against the ropes," head coach Sujay Lama said. "But we battled and had a never say die attitude throughout the match. Although we would have like to be in the semifinals, I'm very proud of the way we competed and you have to give Iowa a lot of credit. We had a young team that handled adversity very well all season. I think the future looks bright for Illinois tennis."
The doubles contest was wire-to-wire. Iowa took the tilt at No. 2 doubles as Hillary Mintz and Kayla Berry teamed to beat Illinois' Brianna Knue and Momei Qu. The match at No. 1 was as close as it gets as Macall Harkins and Emily Wang forced a tiebreaker with Iowa's top team of Meg Racette and Jacqueline Lee. While the No. 1 teams were exchanging points, sophomores Alejandra Meza Cuadra and Momei Qu where battling with Milica Veslinovic and Kayla Berry to try and help the Illini cause, but they fell just short, 8-2, and the match at No. 1 was abandoned with both teams tied at five apiece in the tiebreaker.
Iowa built on the momentum they garnered in doubles as Lee opened up singles competition with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Wang at the No. 4 position. The Hawkeyes followed with a win from 37th-ranked Racette over 63rd-ranked Harkins 6-4, 6-1. Iowa ended the match with a 6-2, 6-3 victory from Veselinovic over Illini senior captain Brianna Knue.
"I haven't had much time to look back on the season," Knue said. We may have had some rough spots this year, but I can look back on my four years and say I have no regrets."
Meza Cuadra' led her match 6-2, 4-2 before it was abandoned. Frehsman Shivani Dave split her first two sets and Momei Qu was in the middle of her second set before play was ceased.
Iowa will face No. 3 seed Michigan in the semifinal while No. 1 Northwestern continues their campaign for a sixth Big Ten Title in the last seven years when they met No. 5 seed Purdue in the morning match.
No. 2 Iowa 4, No. 10 Illinois 0
Big Ten Championship - Quarterfinal Round
Doubles:
1. Racette/Lee (IOWA) vs. Harkins/Wang (ILL); 8(5)-8(5) abd.
2. Mintz/Berry (IOWA) def. Knue/Dave (ILL); 8-4
3. Veselinovic/Dowlin (IOWA) def. Cuadra/Qu (ILL); 8-6
Singles:
1. No. 37 Meg Racette (IOWA) def. No. 63 Macall Harkins (ILL); 6-4, 6-1
2. Hillary Mintz (IOWA) vs. Momei Qu (ILL); 6-3, 3-2 abd.
3. Milica Veselinovic (IOWA) def. Brianna Knue (ILL); 6-2, 6-3
4. Jacqueline Lee (IOWA) def. Emily Wang (ILL); 6-0, 6-1
5. Merel Beelen (IOWA) vs. Shivani Dave (ILL); 3-6, 6-0, 2-1 abd.
6. Krissy BeelDowlin (IOWA) vs. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL); 2-6, 2-4 abd.
