April 14, 2007
Results
URBANA, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team dropped its home contest against No. 33 Indiana today, 5-2, at the Atkins Tennis Center. With top performances from its freshman Megan Fudge, who teamed with Emily Wang to upset Indiana at the top slot in doubles and followed the effort with a victory at No. 1 singles, the Illini could not get the upper hand in the end to drop a close match at home.
"This was a great opportunity against a 33rd-ranked team," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "By no means were we blown off the court, each person was battling hard and the match could have gone either way. It is encouraging to know that we can compete with highly ranked teams. Now, we need to come out ready to give a full effort tomorrow and be focused for another good team."
Illinois dropped to 5-13 on the season with the loss, 1-6 in conference action, while Indiana improved to 16-5 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten play.
In doubles, despite a gutsy performance from Wang and Fudge (ILL), who derailed a hot streak that Indiana's Alba Berdala and Laura McGaffigan had been putting together that included upsetting Northwestern's No. 13-ranked top doubles pair a week ago, the Illini fell a few points short of claiming the doubles point.
Indiana took a 1-0 lead in the opening portion of the match with a win on court two, but Illinois tied the affair when Wang and Fudge prevailed 8-5. With the doubles point on the line, Indiana's Erin Clark and Brianna Williams strung together some clutch points at the end to overtake junior Momei Qu and freshman Kristina Minor on court three, 9-7.
In singles, Indiana used its momentum to rush out to a quick 3-0 lead, as they opened with straight set wins on courts two and six. Parton, on court five for IU, eventually sealed the road win for the Hoosiers as she defeated Alejandra Meza Cuadra 6-4, 6-3 to hand the Illini their sixth conference loss of the season. Though not on paper, the match was highly contested at many points in the first and second sets of Indiana's matches in which they won, as Illinois made their Hoosier opponents work for every point.
Rounding out the day for Illinois, Minor registered a win on court four, as Indiana's Williams had to retire after capturing the first set 6-4 before falling behind 5-2 in the second. Shivani Davé (ILL) fell in her match at No. 3 singes while the Fighting Illini's Fudge put together another top-performance in the top slot of the order to hit past Berdala (IND), 6-4, 7-6(5).
The Illini will be back in action tomorrow when they host Ohio State on Sunday, April 15, for their final home match of the season at 11 a.m. The match also will serve as Wang's final home match of her career as the Illini and their fans will honor her during a special Senior Day ceremony between doubles and singles.
Tennis Match Results
Urbana, Ill.
#34 Indiana 5, Illinois 2
Singles Competition
1. Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Alba Berdala (IND) 6-4, 7-6(5)
2. Laura McGaffigan (IND) def. Momei Qu (ILL) 6-0, 6-4
3. Sigrid Fischer (IND) def. Shivani Davé (ILL) 6-4, 6-4
4. Kristina Minor (ILL) def. Brianna Williams (IND) 4-6, 5-2 Ret.
5. Cecile Perton (IND) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) 6-3, 6
6. Lindsey Stuck (IND) def. Emily Wang (ILL) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. Emily Wang/Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Alba Berdala/Laura McGaffigan (IND) 8-5
2. Sigrid Fischer/Cecile Perton (IND) def. Shivani Davé /Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) 8-3
3. Erin Clark/Brianna Williams (IND) def. Kristina Minor/Momei Qu (ILL) 9-7
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (2, 6, 5, 3, 4, 1)
