Sept. 17, 2010

CARY, N.C. - Four members of the Illini women's tennis team, including junior Chelcie Abajian, sophomores Breanne Smutko and Rachael White and freshman Allison Falkin, made their fall debut Friday in the opening day of the Duke Fab Four Invitational in Cary, N.C. Abajian and White each claimed first-round singles matches to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals. White topped Alabama's Antonia Foehse, 7-5, 7-5, while Abajian defeated Aleksandra Markovic of Wisconsin, 6-1, 6-2.

Smutko and Falkin both drew difficult first-round opponents from Texas, as Smutko fell to top-seeded Aeriel Ellis, 6-2, 7-5, and Falkin came up short in her Illini debut against No. 3-seed Krista Damico, 6-1, 6-4.

In doubles, White and Falkin defeated Northwestern's Brittany Wowchuk and Belinda Niu, 8-6, before falling in the semifinals to top-seeded Kristi Boxx and Abby Guthrie of Ole Miss, 8-3. Abajian and Smutko dropped their quarterfinal match, but rebounded with a win over Tiffany Welcher and Meritt Emery of Alabama, 8-3, to reach the consolation finals where they will face Markovic and Jenny Hois of Wisconsin tomorrow at 8 a.m. CT.

In Saturday's singles quarterfinals, White will face Lauren McHale of North Carolina, while Abajian will battle Maggie Mello of Texas. Both matches are slated to begin at 11 a.m. CT.