Oct. 3, 2007
Complete Results
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Sophomore Megan Fudge and redshirt freshman Leigh Finnegan of the women's tennis team concluded an impressive run at the 2007 Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships being hosted in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The young Illini in their debut at the prestigious championships that featured the best players in the collegiate ranks, strung together three straight wins to advance into the 64-player qualifying fields in singles and doubles, but both suffered setbacks in the opening round of qualifying to cut their 2007 run short.
Ranked No. 120 heading into this week of play, Fudge ran into Katarina Zheltova of Sacramento State in the first round. However, the competition of the weekend coupled with a tough Sacramento State player would wear down the Illini sophomore, as Zheltova prevailed 7-5, 6-3.
For the doubles tandem of Finnegan and Fudge, their strong run through prequalifying would be tested early against the second-seeded team in qualifying in Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Auber of Tennessee. The Lady Vols duo brought experience and a No. 10 preseason ranking into the match, which paved the way to rattling the Illini from the get-go en route to an 8-0 victory.
With the conclusion of the championships, Fudge finished the 2007 All-Americans 3-1 in singles and 3-1 in doubles with Finnegan. Overall, Fudge improved to 5-2 in singles, with her only losses coming against ranked opponents this season, while the tandem is now 5-3 in doubles on the young season.
The Illinois women's tennis team now prepares for the Hoosier Classic Oct. 5-7 in Bloomington, Ind. The traveling roster for the tournament will be seniors Momei Qu and Alejandra Meza Cuadra, junior Shivani Davé and freshmen Annie McCarthy, Candy Graetz and Marisa Lambropoulos. Making her debut for the Illini this weekend will be freshman walk-on Christine Stromberg.
