April 11, 2008

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team, after traveling to Michigan and Pennsylvania, now travels to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana on Saturday, April 12, before traveling to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State on Sunday, April 13. Illinois does not return home until April 19-20, when it hosts Senior Weekend for seniors Momei Qu and Alejandra Meza Cuadra, with Minnesota (April 19) and Iowa (April 20) both in town for the match festivities.

The Illini (8-8, 4-2 Big Ten) are coming off a 1-1 weekend in Big Ten action, dropping a highly-contested match on the road to top-25 Michigan, 5-2, before battling back to the win column with a solid 4-3 win over Penn State on the road to finish off the conference road swing. Indiana (16-5, 5-1 Big Ten) is going to be a tough road test, as they have dropped only one conference dual thus far in 2008. As for the No. 31 Ohio State Buckeyes (17-4, 4-2 Big Ten), they are coming off a solid 8-1 record during the month of March and are looking to end their season strong on Senior Day on Sunday against the Illini.

Live scoring is available for Illinois' match against Indiana at www.iuhoosiers.com, while its match against Ohio State will only have live scoring if the match is moved indoors to the OSU Varsity Tennis Courts. Live scoring, should that happen, can then be found at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.

Full recaps of both matches will be available at the conclusion of each day's action as well. That feature can be found on the official home of Illinois women's tennis, www.fightingillini.com, by clicking on the women's tennis home page.

STATE OF THE ILLINI
Illinois is led by the efforts of sophomore Megan Fudge, who leads the team in wins with an overall record of 17-11, and redshirt freshman Leigh Finnegan (8-12), who hold down the Nos. 1 and 2 singles spots, interchangeably, for the Orange and Blue. Senior Momei Qu trails Fudge with a total of 14 wins on the season and is matched by junior Shivani Davé, sophomore Kristina Minor and freshman Marisa Lambropoulos, who all have 14 wins as well.

In doubles, Illinois most recently shook up its doubles lineup for the first time against Michigan State and has since kept those doubles pairings in their last five straight matches. The move has turned out to be pivotal, as they have won two out of the last five doubles points at stake during that streak, matching the amount of total points it claimed through its first 11 matches. The move was most especially pertinent in its 4-3 win over the Spartans.

HOOSIER STATE OF AFFAIRS
Indiana (16-5, 5-1) is coming off a 1-1 weekend in Big Ten action, as they pounded Wisconsin 7-0 before losing 6-1 to top-ranked Northwestern in their last two outings. The Hoosiers currently sit just below No. 1 Northwestern at the top the Big Ten standings with a 5-1 record. Senior captain Brianna Williams leads the way, posting a 5-1 individual mark in conference play. Junior Alba Berdala also has raised her level of play against Big Ten competition, winning four of six matches while taking on the conference's elite in the No. 1 singles position. Freshman Myriam Sopel has provided three team points as well, coming out on top in each of her three Big Ten singles matches.

Freshman Sopel paves the doubles alley for the Hoosiers as well as she has not suffered a doubles defeat since Jan. 27, stringing together 15 consecutive victories during that time. With three different partners, Sopel owns a 17-1 doubles record during the dual match season. Junior Sigrid Fischer also has ripped off seven straight doubles wins this season.

As a team, Indiana has excelled in the doubles competition all year long. Following a dominating performance in the IU Doubles Invitational to begin the spring season, the Hoosiers have notched the doubles point in 16 of 21 dual matches.

This particular matchup has been dominated by Illinois' opponent over the course of its history as the Hoosiers own a 32-5 lead in the crucial cross-state series. On top of that, Indiana has won the last four straight. However, Illinois last regular season win over the Hoosiers came in 2003 when the Illini swept IU by a score of 7-0. That year, Illinois finished the season 17-8 and 8-2 in conference affairs.

KEEPING AN "EYE" ON OHIO STATE
With their 17th win of the season last Sunday against Wisconsin, Ohio State secured the best start in team history through 21 matches, improving upon the 16-5 mark set in 2002. This season, the Scarlet and Gray have defeated seven ranked teams and have a 10-2 record inside the OSU Varsity Tennis Center. The Buckeyes also hit their stride in the month of March, posting an 8-1 team record and finishing the month in third place in the Big Ten.

Cami Hubbs has 31 singles victories this season to lead the effort, which ties her with Kristy Dascoli (2001) for the most wins by a Buckeye in a single season. Hubbs tied the record against Wisconsin last Sunday with a 6-2, 6-1, victory from the No. 5 spot. The strength of Ohio State as of late has been its dominance in doubles. Ohio State has been nearly perfect in doubles at the OSU Varsity Tennis Center this season, posting a 34-2 mark in 12 matches in the new building. Leading the way are Angela DiPastina and Christina Keesey, who have a 21-9 record together from the top position.

Hubbs and Julie Blackmore have been equally outstanding, posting a 20-5 record and winning 12 consecutive matches together at home. Paloma Escobedo and Caitlin O'Keefe round out the Ohio State doubles unit with an 18-6 record from the No. 3 spot this year.

Illinois owns a 25-13 series lead over the Buckeyes, but have unfortunately lost two of the last three meetings between the two Big Ten competitors. Ohio State has won the last two regular season meetings, while Illinois' last win came in 2006 during the Big Ten Tournament, that a 4-2 win for Illinois in the first round. The Illinois/Ohio State series began in 1981-82. The last Illinois victory during the regular season came in 2004, when Illinois upended the Buckeyes by a score of 4-3.

IT'S A TEAM EFFORT WHEN IT COMES TO WINNING
Junior Shivani Davé, sophomore Kristina Minor and freshman Marisa Lambropoulos have all been crucial for the Illini in their eight wins this season, with all three of them charting clinching singles wins with three, four and one, respectively. Davé, who is tied for second on the team in match victories at 14, has pulled out her best tennis when it counted. So far, Davé has clinched the match for Illinois in its season-opener against Florida Atlantic (7-0), against Kansas (5-2) and in UI's Big Ten opening triumph over Purdue (4-3). All three match clinchers came while Davé was playing in the No. 4 slot.

Minor has been just as pivotal in her matches, with her four match clinchers coming against Marquette (5-2) at No. 4 singles, against No. 60 DePaul (6-1), Michigan State (4-3) and Wisconsin (6-1), with all of those wins coming at No. 6 singles.

Lambropoulos is the most recent addition to the list of match clinchers, as her win at No. 3 singles against Penn State on the road helped seal a 4-3 win for the Illini in the pivotal conference battle.

RIDING HIGH IN THE BIG TEN
Illinois has strung together some impressive tennis under head coach Michelle Dasso's leadership in her second year at the helm. After a roller coaster year last season in which the Illini battled through injuries, faced 12 ranked teams that included four in the top 10 and worked with a young lineup that was headed by two freshman a sophomore and only one senior, the Illini are reaping the benefits in 2008 from those trials.

So far, Illinois has used that experience to put together a 4-2 mark in Big Ten play this season - tying them for fourth in the conference behind Northwestern (7-0), Michigan (6-1), Indiana (5-1) and Ohio State (4-2) - and it looks to extend that against conference foes Indiana and Ohio State, who both stand above the Illini in the standings.

FUDGE NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Megan Fudge was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 11, announced the conference office. Fudge is the first Illini women's tennis athlete to garner the accolade since Macall Harkins on April 19, 2006.

ILLINI EARN NATIONAL RANKING
The Illinois women's tennis team entered the polls after an upset of No. 60 DePaul on Feb. 8, debuting at No. 68 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) tennis rankings on Feb. 12 and have since reached a season-high No. 61 (March 10). The Illini have dropped only one match this season to a team ranked lower than themselves entering a match and now boast a 58th-place ranking in the most recent poll on April 8.

The No. 68 ranking at the beginning of the season was the first time the Illini had appeared in the ITA polls since March 28, 2006, when they came in at No. 70. Illinois' highest ranking in program history came on April 24, 2004, when the Illini were tabbed No. 16 before losing to then No. 23 Indiana (4-3) to fall back out of the top 20 the following week.

ILLINI RECORD BY POSITION
Winning at No. 1 Singles 6-2
Losing at No. 1 Singles 2-6
Winning at No. 2 Singles 7-1
Losing at No. 2 Singles 1-7
Winning at No. 3 Singles 5-0
Losing at No. 3 Singles 3-8
Winning at No. 4 Singles 5-3
Losing at No. 4 Singles 3-5
Winning at No. 5 Singles 7-4
Losing at No. 5 Singles 1-4
Winning at No. 6 Singles 7-3
Losing at No. 6 Singles 1-5

UP NEXT
Illinois returns home for the first time in four matches on April 19-20, when it hosts Senior Weekend for seniors Momei Qu and Alejandra Meza Cuadra. Along with its farewell to this year's senior class, the Illini welcome Minnesota on April 19, followed by its regular season finale against Iowa on April 20. Both matches are slated for 11 a.m. starts at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.