April 24, 2010
Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 21 Illini women's tennis team (13-8, 7-2 Big Ten) dropped a heartbreaker Saturday afternoon, as No. 4 Michigan (19-3, 9-0) remained perfect in the Big Ten with a 5-2 victory to snap Illinois' six-match winning streak. Sophomore Chelcie Abajian and freshman Rachael White tallied wins at Nos. 4 and 6 for the Illini.
"Obviously, we're disappointed because we were right there," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "We have to give huge credit to Michigan, they're a very good team. We'll look to rebound tomorrow and then a quick turnaround with the Big Ten Tournament next week where we'll hopefully have another shot at Northwestern or Michigan. We can't look past anyone though and have to just take it one match at a time. Rachael (White) did a great job today picking us up quickly in singles and getting us on the board. Chelcie (Abajian) played very aggressive today and looked confident. We laid it all on the line at every court today, but we just fell short."
The Wolverines struck early in doubles to claim the 1-0 advantage, before White evened the score with a win over Rika Tatsuno, 6-2, 6-1. Michigan responded with a victory at the No. 3 spot to re-gain the lead, before Abajian knocked off Michelle Sulahian, 6-3, 6-0 to tie the match at two apiece. The three Illini remaining battled until the end, but ultimately the Wolverines were able to hold on for the win to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title with one conference match to go.
Illinois is currently in third place in the standings as Northwestern tallied a win earlier today to gain sole possession of second place with an 8-1 mark.
The Illini return to action next week for the 2010 Big Ten Championships hosted by the University of Iowa, April 29-May 2.
Match Results
#4 Michigan 5, #21 Illinois 2
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 21 Denise Muresan (UM) d. No. 83 Megan Fudge (ILL), 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 -- Whitney Taney (UM) d. Leigh Finnegan (ILL), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 -- Mimi Nguyen (UM) d. Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) , 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 -- Rachael White (ILL) d. Rika Tatsuno (UM), 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 -- Tania Mahtani (UM) d. Breanne Smutko (ILL) , 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 6 -- Chelcie Abajian (ILL) d. Michelle Sulahian (UM), 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 31 Taney/Tatsuno (UM) d. Abajian/White (ILL), 8-3
No. 2 -- Nguyen/Sulahian (UM) d. No. 61 Finnegan/Fudge (ILL), 8-6
No. 3 -- Mahtani/Muresan (UM) d. Lambropoulos/Smutko (ILL), 8-4
Order of finish - Doubles 1,3,2; Singles 4,3,6,2,1,5
