Jan. 20, 2011

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 25th-ranked Illinois women's tennis team (0-0) will battle two top programs in its first home weekend of the season, as the Illini welcome No. 4 Notre Dame (0-0) on Saturday, Jan. 22 and No. 13 Tennessee (0-0) the following day. Both matches are slated to begin at noon at Atkins Tennis Center.

"We have two very challenging opponents this weekend, but this team is very excited," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "They've worked hard really since the end of last season and I think we're in a very good place. It was probably the best start to our January training trip since I've been here.

"We definitely have one of the more challenging schedules in the country, but that's the way I like it. I think the girls like that too. They want to have close matches. They want to compete hard. They don't want to be able to walkover opponents and we're certainly not going to be able to do that with any of our matches this year. When you play those types of teams, that's how you grow. If you want to be the best, I do believe you have to play the best."

Live scoring for both matches will be available HERE.

FOR STARTERS
The Orange and Blue came up just short on the road against both squads last season, as Tennessee claimed a 4-3 victory, while Notre Dame won, 5-2. Illinois has faced Notre Dame in each of the past 12 seasons, with the Irish holding a 22-8 all-time series lead. The Illini's last victory over Notre Dame was on March 4, 2004 in South Bend.

Illinois' last win over a top-10 team was against No. 7 Northwestern on April 4, 2004, while the highest ranked opponent ever defeated by the Illini was No. 1 Duke on Feb. 23, 2003. Both wins were at Atkins Tennis Center.

Sunday's match will mark the 15th straight year Illinois has played Tennessee, with the Lady Vols leading the all-time series, 16-1. The Illini's lone victory against Tennessee came on March 24, 1986.

THE NOTRE DAME TENNIS CONNECTION
Fifth-year Illinois head coach Michelle Dasso was a four-time ITA All-American as a member of Notre Dame's women's tennis team from 1998-2001. Additionally, she also earned ITA National Senior Player of the Year honors, was a four-time team most valuable player and still holds several school records including career singles wins (140), most wins at No. 1 singles (67), season singles victories (40) and combined season victories (74). Prior to her stint at Illinois, Dasso was an assistant coach with the Irish from 2003-06, where she earned ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year accolades in 2006, after helping lead Notre Dame to a 27-2 record and No. 2 ranking for a majority of the season.

"I'm excited to start off the season against my alma mater," Dasso said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for head coach Jay (Louderback). I played under him and started my coaching career under him, so it's always kind of a special match for me."

SCOUTING THE IRISH
Saturday's match will mark Notre Dame's first competition since competing at the Sarasota Clay Court Classic in November and first dual match since the Irish fell to Stanford in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships last May. Notre Dame finished the season 26-4 and reached the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years.

The Irish return several top performers from last season including 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year junior Kristy Frilling, who was ranked ninth in the first Campbell/ITA national rankings of the year after finishing 8-2 for the fall. Also earning early rankings were sophomore Chrissie McGaffigan (No. 78), senior Kristen Rafael (No. 79), junior Shannon Mathews (No. 104) and freshman Jennifer Kellner (No. 106).

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
Tennessee is coming off action at the Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor, Jan. 15-17, where the Lady Vols captured 12 overall singles wins and five in doubles taking on players from No. 8 Michigan, No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 23 Washington.

In the national rankings, freshman Brynn Boren led the way at No. 20, followed by seniors Rosalia Alda (No. 87) and Maria Sorbello (No. 116). In doubles, Alda and freshman Millie Nichols checked in at No. 9 and Boren and Sorbello were 19th.

FGCU INVITATIONAL RECAP
Illinois opened its spring season this past weekend in Fort Myers, Fla., for the three-day Florida Gulf Coast Invitational, Jan. 13-15. The tournament was comprised of players from No. 28 South Florida, No. 50 Purdue, No. 66 North Texas, No. 70 North Florida, Akron, Stetson, Northwestern State, Louisville, Wichita State and Florida Gulf Coast and featured five doubles flights and 10 singles flights.

For the weekend, the Orange and Blue finished 21-1 overall in singles and 11-1 in doubles. Illinois was victorious in three of four doubles flights, while winning all four singles matches on the day. In flight two, junior Chelcie Abajian rallied back to defeat Angelina Jogasuria (Akron), 1-6, 6-3, 10-2, while in flight four, junior Amy Allin swept Anna Dushkina (Purdue), 6-3, 6-3. In flight six, freshman Allison Falkin cruised past Sarah Miller (Louisville), 6-3, 6-1, and in flight seven, senior Marisa Lambropoulos topped Imogen Golder (Purdue), 6-4, 6-4.

Championship matches for seniors Leigh Finnegan and Annie McCarthy, sophomores Rachael White and Breanne Smutko and freshman Misia Kedzierski were not finished due to rain.

UP NEXT
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend will get underway Jan. 29-30 at the top 15 nationally ranked teams in the final 2010 team rankings. Illinois earned the No. 2 seed at host and top-seeded Georgia Tech and will face third-seeded South Florida on Jan. 29. The Illini will then meet the winner or loser of No. 16 Georgia Tech and fourth-seeded Iowa the following day.

The 15 schools that win both of their matches at these events will be invited to play in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia, Feb. 18-21.