Nov. 27, 2007

LATHAM, N.Y. - Future Illini Chelcie Abajian (Commack, N.Y./Commack) recently announced her signing of a National Letter of Intent to play for the Illini next season. Since her announcement, the 2008 freshman has continued her juniors success as she advanced into the quarterfinals of singles and the finals of doubles at the United State Tennis Association (USTA) National Open in Latham, N.Y., Nov. 22-26.

A prospect sure to add depth and talent to the Illini next fall, Abajian had a tremendous run, first taking down Emily Rosenblum - who ranks No. 7 in the Philadelphia region - by a bagel score of 6-0, 6-0. In the second round, Abajian bested Elizabeth Kaufman - ranked 83rd in the nation in the sophomore class and second in the Maryland region - as she advanced without dropping a set, 6-2, 6-2. Kaufmann had previously upset the tournament's eighth seed and fourth-ranked player out of Connecticut, Marie Watanabe, in the opening round.

In the round of 16, the New York product met her first seeded foe in 12th-seeded Lauren Cloonan, ranked as high as 147th nationally and 18th in the state of New York. As the intrastate battle ensued, Abajian came out on top again, continuing her quest through the singles draw with a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-1 victory. While the performance at the tournament was one of Abajian's best this season, her tournament run came to an end in the quarterfinals with a loss to 13th-seeded Blair Seideman (ranked 22nd-nationally in the sophomore class and No. 2 in the state of New York) out of the Long Island Region by a score of 6-3, 6-4.

The Illini recruit did not end her success there, however, as she teamed with fellow Southern Regional player Robin Anderson in doubles. The duo dropped Erin Colton and Alexandra McAtee in the round of 32, 8-2, before toppling sixth-seeded Catherine Crystal and Catherine Higbie of the Southern Region, 8-1. In the quarterfinals, the pair would not be stopped as they continued their run with a win over fourth-seeded Jennifer Holzberg (Connecticut) and Christine Ordway (Maine), 8-6, before receiving a walkover win against Jillian Santos and Emily Wolf out of the Metropolitan Region in the semifinals. In the finals, despite a valiant effort, the pair's bid for a National Open championship was ended with a loss to Mollie Anderson (Long Island) and Ashley Miller (Southern Region), 8-4.