Oct. 31, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team will travel to its final tournament of the fall season at the Harvard Invitational in Boston, Mass., Nov. 2-4. The tournament field includes host Harvard, the Illini, North Carolina and Texas A&M, providing a formidable test and solid tournament for the young Orange and Blue netters to finish the fall campaign out on a high note.

"This weekend marks our final fall tournament of the semester and we are looking forward to the opportunity to play against some competition we don't see all the time," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "This fall semester has allowed all of the girls to gain some valuable match experience and it would be encouraging to end on a high note."

The Illini roster traveling this weekend includes senior Alejandra Meza Cuadra, junior Shivani Davé, sophomores Leigh Finnegan, Megan Fudge and Kristina Minor and freshmen Annie McCarthy, Candy Graetz and Marisa Lambropoulos.

The tournament pits all four squads against each other in both singles and doubles competition at the Murr Center Tennis Courts for the three-day event. A full tournament bracket and draw will be available on the Harvard athletics web site at www.gocrimson.com on Thursday afternoon.

On the season, Fudge and Lambropoulos both lead the team in wins with six apiece, as Fudge boasts a 6-4 record, while the young freshman Lambropoulos is 6-5. McCarthy closely follows with a 5-3 mark in the fall campaign.

In doubles, the duo of Finnegan and Fudge are 6-5 on the year headed into the final weekend of competition, while Graetz and Minor are at .500 at 3-3 and Lambropoulos and McCarthy are 3-2 overall on the young season.

A full recap of each day's events will be available at the official home of Fighting Illini athletics, www.fightingillini.com, at the end of each day's action. Tournament scores and results also can be found at www.gocrimson.com