April 6, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -The 40th-ranked Illinois women's tennis team welcomes the No. 3-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish into town on Tuesday, April 7 at 3:30 p.m. The Illini are coming off of a weekend sweep over conference foes Minnesota and Iowa and ride a seven match home-winning streak into Tuesday afternoon's battle.
In their first match this past weekend against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Orange and Blue started off strong taking the doubles point in dominating fashion. The Illini continued their solid play, sweeping all singles matches for the 7-0 win. The Illini wrapped up the weekend with a 5-2 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Orange and Blue grabbed an early lead as they swept all three matches in doubles. The Illini faced challenges in singles, with the match tight until the end, but Illinois showed great tenacity and finished strong to secure the conference victory.
Live scoring will be available for Tuesday's match at fightingillini.com.
STATE OF THE ILLINI
The Illini (14-4, 5-1) come in at No. 40 in the latest Campbell's Soup ITA poll released on March 31. In singles, junior Megan Fudge tops the chart at No. 108 for the Illini, while redshirt-sophomore Leigh Finnegan is ranked No. 111 in the nation. Fudge, leads the team in dual match wins with a record of 16-2 and is 22-6 overall.
Finnegan is currently 17-9 overall on the year and 11-7 in dual matches, primarily seeing action in the No. 1 slot for the Orange and Blue.
GIMME 20
Illinois' junior Megan Fudge and freshman Chelcie Abajian both have hit the 20-win mark for the 2008-09 season. Overall, Fudge is 22-6 overall and 16-2 in dual matches, primarily seeing action at the No. 2 slot for the Orange and Blue. In her three years at Illinois, the Kaarst, Germany, native has compiled three 20-win seasons and looks to continue to add to her total this week.
Freshman Chelcie Abajian has made an immediate impact in the Illinois lineup. In her debut season with the Illini, Abajian leads the squad with an overall record of 22-14, after an impressive run at the Midwest Regional Championships in the fall. Fellow freshman Amy Allin also joined the 20-win list this past weekend, as she notched two wins over conference opponents.
Two other Illini are inching closer to clinching 20-win seasons of their own as senior Shivani Davé sits at 17-6 overeall on the season, while redshirt-sophomore Leigh Finnegan (17-9) and sophomore Marisa Lambropoulos (18-13) are not far behind.
SCOUTING THE IRISH
The Notre Dame women's tennis team is ranked No. 3 in the country and comes into the match 19-4 on the year. Against nationally ranked teams, the Irish have an impressive seven wins and only four losses, with two of those defeats coming to No. 1 Northwestern. Senior Kelcy Tefft is ranked No. 35 in the country and has a 13-7 singles record on the year at the number one singles spot. Freshman Kristy Frilling has recorded 15 wins and 7 losses at the number two singles spot and is ranked No. 36 in the country. Tefft and Frilling also make up a powerful doubles team, going 16-2 at number one doubles on the year and currently holding a No. 3 in the rankings. Tefft also teams up with junior Kali Krisik in doubles and the Irish tandem boasts a No. 7 ranking.
Illinois all-time record vs. Notre Dame: 9-19
Last meeting: March 12, 2008, L, 6-1 at Notre Dame
ATTENDANCE LEADERS
The 2009 ITA attendance race is on and the Illini women are among the leaders in the second annual race. The Illini women came in fourth for the average attendance in the month of March, as 147 faithful fans attended the Illini match versus Indiana, when the Illini took a 5-2 win over the Hoosiers.
UP NEXT
The Illini hit the road for a pair of conference matches against Ohio State on April 10 and Penn State on April 12.
