Feb. 7, 2010

Box Score

URBANA, Ill. - The No. 32 Illini women's tennis team got back on track Sunday, defeating Marquette, 6-1 in the first match of the day, before blanking Western Illinois, 7-0 in the night cap at Atkins Tennis Center. With the wins, the Illini improve to 3-4 on the year, while Marquette fell to 5-2 and Western Illinois dropped to 0-3.

"It was nice to get some wins today after some very close matches," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "This team is very, very good and I think we're going to break through and ultimately, that tough schedule is really going to help us once conference starts. It was definitely nice to have every single person participate this weekend, so that's good for the girls who don't usually see as much playing time. Annie and Christine were definitely the highlight. In their first dual matches of the season, they lost just one game between the two of them, so that's pretty impressive."

The Illini swept all six doubles matches on the day and carried that momentum over into singles play, where junior Marisa Lambropoulos improved her winning streak to seven straight and senior Megan Fudge collected her third consecutive victory at No. 2 singles. Several fresh faces saw action today, as seniors Kristina Minor and Christine Stromberg and junior Annie McCarthy tallied their first dual wins of the year, while McCarthy and sophomore Amy Allin teamed up to record their team-best 15th and 16th doubles victories of the year.

The Illini will have two weeks off before returning to action at No. 13 Notre Dame, Feb. 20 at Noon CT.

Match Results
#32 Illinois 6, Marquette 1

Singles competition
1. #33 Rachael White (ILL) def. Paola Calderon (MARQ) 6-1, 6-2
2. Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Olga Fischer (MARQ) 6-1, 6-2
3. Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Kelly Barry (MARQ) 6-1, 6-2
4. Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) def. Rachael Hush (MARQ) 6-0, 6-4
5. Christina Ruiz (MARQ) def. Kristina Minor (ILL) 7-5, 6-4
6. Amy Allin (ILL) def. Gillian Hush (MARQ) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Rachael White/Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) def. Rachael Hush/Christina Ruiz (MARQ) 8-6
2. Megan Fudge/Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Paola Calderon/Olga Fischer (MARQ) 8-5
3. Annie McCarthy/Amy Allin (ILL) def. Gillian Hush/Maggie Wilson (MARQ) 8-6

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,1,6,4,2,5)

#32 Illinois 7, Western Illinois 0

Singles competition
1. #33 Rachael White (ILL) def. Stephanie Baumer (WIU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Marcela Brandao (WIU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Amy Allin (ILL) def. Jill Furlong (WIU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Kristina Minor (ILL) def. Amy Unzicker (WIU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Annie McCarthy (ILL) def. Yana Meinert (WIU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Christine Stromberg (ILL) def. Kate Kennedy (WIU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Rachael White/Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) def. Stephanie Baumer/Jill Furlong (WIU) 8-0
2. Megan Fudge/Kristina Minor (ILL) def. Marcela Brandao/Yana Meinert (WIU) 8-3
3. Annie McCarthy/Amy Allin (ILL) def. Amy Unzicker/Kate Kennedy (WIU) 8-1

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,5,3,4,1,6)