April 21, 2007

Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Illinois women's tennis team suffered a tough loss at the hands of the No. 59 Iowa Hawkeyes today, 6-1, at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center. Despite the loss, freshman Kristina Minor was able to shine in her hard-fought win over Kayla Berry of Iowa, 7-5, 7-5. The loss drops the Illini to 5-15 overall, and 1-8 in Big Ten duals, while Iowa improved to 10-9 overall and 6-3 in conference.

"I was really proud to see Kristina fight and pull out the win today," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "It was good to see her bounce back in that match and finish it off. Overall, tomorrow it is going to take a full team effort and we are going to need all the girls to come out against Iowa strong and play as team."

In doubles, the Hawkeyes jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead behind wins at Nos. 1 and 3, but the doubles pair of Shivani Davé and Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) prevented the sweep as they downed Hillary Mintz and Merel Beelen, 8-6, on court two.

In singles, the Hawkeyes won three straight to open play to clinch the dual-match victory, with wins, in order of finish, at Nos. 3, 5 and 6. The Illini would finally garner their second match win of the afternoon, as Minor (ILL) displayed a never-say quit attitude, edging Berry on court four. Iowa closed out the afternoon with wins on Nos. 2 and 1 singles en route to taking the dual win, 6-1.

On court two, junior Momei Qu (ILL) had the momentum on her side as she won the first set, 7-6, but could not keep the foot on the gas as Mili Veselinovic (IOWA) came back to seal a 6-1 victory in the second frame and a closeout with a 11-9 win in the match tiebreak. In almost the same fashion at No. 1 singles, freshman Megan Fudge (ILL) opened the match with a 6-4 victory in the opening frame, but could not keep Jacqueline Lee (IOWA) at bay, as the Iowa netter handed Fudge 6-0, 6-2 setbacks in the final sets to seal the win.

Illinois returns to action for its last regular season dual match of the year when it travels to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers on Sunday, April 22, at noon (CDT).

TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
IOWA CITY, IOWA
4/21/07
#59 IOWA 6, ILLIOIS 1

Singles
1. Jacqueline Lee (IOWA) def. Megan Fudge (ILL), 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
2. Mili Veselinovic (IOWA) def. Momei Qu (ILL), 6-7, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9)
3. Hillary Mintz (IOWA) def. Shivani Dave (ILL), 6-1, 6-0
4. Kristina Minor (ILL) def. Kayla Berry (IOWA), 7-5, 7-5
5. Merel Beelen (IOWA) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL), 6-2, 6-0
6. Kelcie Klockenga (IOWA) def. Emily Wang (ILL), 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
1. Jacqueline Lee/Mili Veselinovic (IOWA) def. Emily Wang/Megan Fudge (ILLL), 8-5
2. Shivani Davé /Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) def. Hillary Mintz/ Merel Beelen (IOWA), 8-6
3. Kayla Berry/Kelcie Klockenga (IOWA) def. Kristina Minor/Momei Qu (ILL), 8-5

Match Notes:
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (3, 5, 6, 4, 2, 1)