April 8, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Determined to guide the Illini back to the win column, senior Brianna Knue broke through in Illinois' 4-3 defeat of the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday.
Behind one set, Knue trailed junior Jessica Baron in the second set, knowing that the day's outcome rested on her shoulders. Although the Illini had already overcome the initial setback of losing the doubles point, the teams exchanged match points to a 3-3 tie, with MSU landing the latest blow. Nonetheless, Knue kept on. Down 5-4, Illinois' No. 3 player fought off two match points to prevail 7-5 in the second set. From there, whereas Baron took the first set 6-1, this time it was Knue by the same margin.
"Mentally the second set was huge because (Baron) kind of lost it a little bit and I gained confidence from that," Knue said. "It felt good to win it for the team because we all knew we needed a win."
Saturday's three-set victory was this season's fourth triumph in five extended matches for the Western Springs native. The win was also Knue's third against a Spartan opponent in 2006.
"Brianna was incredible. She came back, chipped away and in the end she wore her opponent out," head coach Sujay Lama said. "She was just having fun today. For a group that has struggled, we found a way."
Saturday was not only Illinois' third win in as many years against the Spartans, it was also the Illini's first win in the Big Ten season as well as the first dual victory on the road.
"On the road that was awesome," Lama said. "All I wanted was to be able to say we gave our best effort of the year today and that we fought our hardest. Everybody gave a great effort."
Illinois started the season at the Spartan Cup in East Lansing where the team won 18 matches in three days. More than six months later, none of the matches were the same, as sophomores Momei Qu and Alejandra Meza Cuadra beat Michigan State opponents for the first time this season.
Qu needed a first-set 7-6(8) tiebreaker on court two, but Meza Cuadra used only straight sets to capture another Orange and Blue win. Victory No. 4 came from the nation's 95th-ranked player, sophomore Macall Harkins on court one. Harkins claimed her sixth consecutive match, a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of sophomore Christine Bader.
On Sunday Illinois visits a 36th-ranked Michigan team that collected a 5-2 win over No. 43 Purdue earlier today.
Regardless the Illini are elated and confident going into their next match.
"If we compete like we did today, we're going to give ourselves a good chance to win," Knue said. "At this point we're not worried about rankings, we're not worried about who it is on the other side of the net. We're just going to go out and play. It doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter when it is. We're just going to go out there and try hard."
Saturday's results
Illinois 4, Michigan State 3
Doubles
1. No. 37 Macall Harkins/Emily Wang (ILL) def. Christine Bader/Sarah Andrews (MSU), 9-7
2. Jessica Baron/Stephanie Kebler (MSU) def. Brianna Knue/Shivani Davé (ILL), 8-5
3. Pascale Schnitzer/Marianne Eelens (MSU) def. Momei Qu/Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL), 9-7
Singles
1. No. 95 Harkins (ILL) def. Bader (MSU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Qu (ILL) def. Schnitzer (MSU), 7-6 (8), 6-4
3. Knue (Ill.) def. Baron (MSU), 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
4. Kebler (MSU) def. Dave (Ill.), 6-4, 6-2
5. Andrews (MSU) def. Wang (Ill.), 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6)
6. Meza Cuadra (Ill.) def. Eelens (MSU), 6-4, 6-1
