Oct. 24, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Several members of the Illinois women's tennis team were in action on Friday at the 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships hosted by Michigan State University. In the final round of singles qualifying, freshman Chelcie Abajian took care of business in the morning, downing Western Michigan's Yumi Matsuto, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to the singles main draw.
"Chelcie played solid tennis this morning to secure her spot in the main draw," Illinois head coach Michelle Dasso said. "She is match tough and will use her wins in qualifying as a confidence boost to keep things rolling tomorrow."
In the other Illini qualifying match of the day, sophomore Annie McCarthy gave it her all, but came up short in a grueling, three-set battle with Purdue's Tatiana Ganzha in the final round, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (4).
"Annie displayed such heart and determination, but fell short in a three and a half hour battle that came down to a tie-break in her last round of qualifying," Dasso added.
Abajian joins four other Illini in the singles main draw, which begins tomorrow, Oct. 25 at 9 a.m. In the first round of the singles main draw, Abajian will face Michigan State's Manon Noe. Junior Megan Fudge will take Anastasia Dracheva from Miami, while sophomore Marisa Lambropoulos is set to battle DePaul's Sandra Zmak. Rounding out the Illini in the singles main draw, sophomore Leigh Finnegan takes on Wisconsin's Elizabeth Carpenter in the opening round, and senior Shivani Davé squares off against Ekatarina Mirnova from Wisconsin.
In the doubles main draw, the three Illini tandems of Fudge/Finnegan, Abajian/Lambropoulos, and Allin/McCarthy all won their first round matches to advance to the second round later on in the day. In the second round, the duo of Fudge/Finnegan dominated the Butler duo of Natalie Jaimes and Gabriella Bobrowshi, 8-5, to advance to third round of the doubles draw. In the other Illini doubles matches, the second round would be the stopping point as the duo of Abajian/Lambropoulos fell to the DePaul duo of Dunja Antunovic and Kristin Gambrell, 8-5, and the Illini tandem of Allin/McCarthy dropped a hard-fought battle to Bowling Green's Christine Chiricosta and Kelsey Jakupchin, 8-5.
"Fudge and Finnegan continued to play with the energy and determination that makes them an exceptional team," Dasso said. "Abajian and Lambropoulos fell short in their second round doubles partly due to a slow start, but continued to show glimpses of the outstanding team they can make. McCarthy and Allin lost a close second round doubles that easily could have gone either way." The duo of Fudge and Finnegan will take on DePaul's Selma Salkovic and Gia McKnight in the third round of doubles tomorrow.
Play resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m. with singles main draw action and the third round of doubles play. For continued coverage of the 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regionals, fans can visit msuspartans.com for results and score updates throughout the tournament, while a full recap of each day's action for the Illini will be available at fightingillini.com.
2008 Wilson / ITA Midwest Regional Championship Results
MSU Indoor Tennis Facility
East Lansing, Mich.
Day One - 10/23
Singles Qualifying - Round 1
Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Amy Recht (IPFW) 6-4, 6-0
Annie McCarthy (ILL) def. Catrine Bjerrehus (CLE. ST) 6-1, 7-5
Amy Allin (ILL) def. Veronika Leszayova (DRAKE) 7-5, 6-3
Christine Stromberg (ILL) def. Miriam Westerink (EMU) 7-6 (5), 6-2
Singles Qualifying - Round 2
Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Britney Larson (MIAMI) 6-1, 6-2
Annie McCarthy (ILL) def. Ally Majercik (IOWA) 7-5, 6-1
Jessica Young (IOWA) def. Amy Allin (ILL) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Megan Martzolf (MIAMI) def. Christine Stromberg (ILL) 6-2, 6-4
Day Two - 10/24
Singles Qualifying - Final Round
Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Yumi Matsuto (WMU) 6-3, 7-5
Tatiana Ganzha (PUR) def. Annie McCarthy (ILL) 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (4)
Doubles Main Draw - Round 1
Megan Fudge / Leigh Finnegan (ILL) def. Katie Potts / Kristin Rafael (ND) 8-4
Amy Allin / Annie McCarthy (ILL) def. Christina Ruiz / Paola Calderone (MARQ) 8-1
Marisa Lambropoulos / Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Rachel Hush / Robin Metzler (MARQ) 8-3
Doubles Main Draw - Round 2
Megan Fudge / Leigh Finnegan (ILL) def.Natalie Jaimes and Gabriella Bobrowshi (BUT) 8-5
Christine Chiricosta / Kelsey Jakupchin (BGSU) def. Amy Allin / Annie McCarthy (ILL) 8-5
Dunja Antunovic / Kristin Gambrell (DEP) def. Marisa Lambropoulos / Chelcie Abajian (ILL) 8-5
