May 7, 2008
2008 NCAA Tournament Notes in PDF Format
2008 NCAA Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team will travel to Atlanta, Ga. for the first and second rounds of the 2008 NCAA Tournament hosted by Georgia Tech, May 9-10. The Orange and Blue are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2003-04 season.
"My girls are excited as ever to be participating in their first post-season but are far from satisfied with simply making the
tournament," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "I can tell by the intensity and hunger they have shown in our practices this past week that we are headed into our rematch vs.Tennessee just as prepared and fired up as ever. Tennessee is a well coached and talented team but our girls are relishing the challenge."
Live scoring will be available and can be found at http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/livestats/w-tennis/ill. A complete recap of the match can be found at fightingillini.com at the conclusion of play.
ATLANTA REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 9
Match 1: Georgia Tech (19-5) vs. Alcorn State (13-12), Noon ET
Match 2: Illinois (12-10) vs. Tennessee (14-9), 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 10
Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 1 p.m.
2008 BIG TEN TOURNAMENT REVIEW
The Illinois women's team entered the 2008 conference tournament as the No. 4 seed and received a quarterfinal matchup against No. 5 seed Ohio State. The Fighting Illini made a statement by upsetting the then No. 34-ranked Ohio State for the second time this season, 4-3.
Looming in the semifinal round for the Illini, was No. 1 Northwestern. The Illini gave it their all but fell short to the Wildcats, 4-0.
STATE OF THE ILLINI
Illinois has been led by the efforts of sophomore Megan Fudge (22-12) and redshirt freshman Leigh Finnegan (11-14), who hold down the Nos. 1 and 2 singles spots, respectively. Sophomore Kristina Minor is not too far behind Fudge with 18 wins on the season. Senior Momei Qu and freshman Marisa Lambropouos have compiled 17 wins each on the season. Junior Shivani Davé rounds out the Fighting Illini with near 20-win seasons, tacking on 16 wins so far this year.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Fighting Illini are making the seventh post season appearance in school history. The last trip to the Big Dance, in 2004 No. 36-seed William & Mary upset the No. 22-seed Illinois 4-2.The Illini have advanced to the second round twice, in 2001 and 2003.
TAKING A LOOK AT THE VOLUNTEERS
The Tennessee Lady Volunteers are making their 14th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the regular season matchup between the two teams, the Lady Volunteers claimed a 6-1 win over the Illini. However, the ladies of Orange and Blue have turned the season around going 10-8 since the Jan. 26 meeting.
GEORGIA TECH vs. ALCORN STATE
The No. 3 national seed and regional host, Georgia Tech (19-5) will take on Alcorn State (13-2) in the first match of the day on May 9. The Yellow Jackets are looking to defend their 2007 NCAA Championship, which they claimed on a 4-2 victory over UCLA in Athens, Ga.
Alcorn State (13-12) earned the SWAC automatic bid by winning the conference Championship over Prairie View, 4-3.
FUDGE EARNS BIG TEN HONORS
Sophomore Megan Fudge was named to the All-Big Ten team for the second straight year. Fudge, Illinois' No. 1 singles player and part of the No. 1 Illini doubles duo, helped lead a remarkable turnaround for the ladies of the Orange and Blue. The Illini won seven of its 10 conference matches, compared to only one the previous season. The Kaarst, Germany native, was one of only four unanimous selections to the All-conference team.
FUDGE NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Megan Fudge earned her second conference honor of the season for the week ending, April 14. The Kaarst, Germany native collected her first conference accolade back on Feb. 13. She was the first Illini athlete to garner the honor since Macall Hawkins on April 19, 2006. Fudge is the first Illini to win the award twice in the same season.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
The Illinois women's tennis team entered the polls after an upset of No. 60 DePaul on Feb. 8, debuting at No. 68 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) tennis rankings on Feb. 12 and have since reached a season-high ranking No. 36 (April 28). The Illini have dropped only one match this season to a team ranked lower than themselves entering a match.
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.
Complete Notes above in PDF format.
