Oct. 4, 2012
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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Fighting Illini senior Rachael White and sophomore Melissa Kopinski knocked off two top-10 doubles teams Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships.
"Rachael and Melissa are keeping everything really simple and are executing well," assistant coach Georgia Rose said. "I'm really proud of the way they're playing. Today, we got down a break and just rebounded extremely well, which was great to see."
White and Kopinski maintained their momentum from the qualifying rounds with an 8-5 win over Stanford's Stacey Tan and Ellen Tay, the ninth-ranked tandem in the nation. The Orange and Blue pair followed that up with another 8-5 victory, taking down No. 6 Samantha Adams and Kenna Kilgo of Texas Tech.
White and Kopinski have defeated four nationally ranked opponents in the past three days and will return to the court tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT to challenge the nation's top-ranked duo, Sabrina Santamaria and Kaitlyn Christian of USC.
Doubles finalists will earn automatic bids to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, Nov. 8-11 in Flushing, N.Y.
Three other Illini, including junior Misia Kedzierski, sophomore Julia Jamieson and freshman Audrey O'Connor, will begin play tomorrow at the three-day U.S. Air Force Academy Tennis Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Illini Results
Melissa Kopinski/Rachael White (Illinois) def. #9 Stacey Tan/Ellen Tsay (Stanford), 8-5
Melissa Kopinski/Rachael White (Illinois) def. #6 Samantha Adams/Kenna Kilgo (Texas Tech), 8-5
