University of Illinois
Midwest Regional
Illini Close Out Second Day of Midwest Regional
October 17, 2014 | Women's Tennis
Tournament Central
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The second day of the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional had its ups and downs for the Illini. Head coach Michelle Dasso's team finished the day with five wins including three in the doubles draw. Action for the day included the qualifying singles round of 16 followed by rounds of 48 and 32 of doubles action.
Qualifier:
Four Illini competed in the morning in the final round of qualifying. Julia Jamieson picked up a win and a spot in the main draw competition after topping Sydney Rider of Wisconsin 6-1, 6-0. Jade Hilton also earned a main draw bid after defeating Molly O'Koniewski from Notre Dame 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1. Madie Baillon fell to Wisconsin's Lauren Burich 6-2, 6-3. Jerricka Boone was eliminated by Grainne O'Neill from Ohio State after falling 6-2, 6-1.
With the wins, Jamieson and Hilton earned two of the eight available bids into the main draw competition beginning on Saturday. Jamieson will play at 10:30 and Hilton at 11:30 a.m. Kopinski, Kwong and Casati all earned main draw bids with Kopinski and Casati receiving first round byes. Kwong will play at 10:30 a.m. while Casati is slated for a 1:00 p.m. match and Kopinski for 4:00 p.m.
In the back draw Grace Tapak defeated Emily Meyers of Michigan State 7-5, 6-2.
Doubles:
Jamieson and Hilton were added to the doubles draw at the last minute after a Toledo tandem had to drop out. The Illinois duo fell to Gogvadze and Ribero of Eastern Michigan 8-5. Casati and Boone took down Rider and Steoaniva of Wisconsin 8-3. Tapak and Baillon defeated Myers and Baylis from Michigan State 8-4 to advance to the second round of doubles.
In the round of 32 Kopinski and Kwong topped Detroit's Sujachvili and Silzoskaya tandem 8-4 to advance to Saturday's round of 16. Casati and Boone fell to Pimienta and Gebes of Marquette 8-6. Tapak and Baillon lost to Notre Dame's Vrabel and Miller 8-3.
Melissa and Louise will play at 9:00 a.m. in search of a quarterfinals slot in the doubles draw.
More information, including live video links, can be found on the tournament website at http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/ita-regional-2014.html. Updates will be available on Twitter:@IlliniWTennis and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fighting-Illini-Womens-Tennis/.
